Rolex revives a collector legend with the Perpetual Padellone
The Perpetual Padellone draws its name from the coveted reference 8171 while introducing an instantaneous complete annual calendar to Rolex’s modern Perpetual collection.
2 min
Rolex has reached into one of the most fascinating corners of its archive for a watch that expands the brand’s contemporary Perpetual collection.
The new Perpetual Padellone takes its name from reference 8171, the complete-calendar Rolex known to collectors by the Italian nickname “Padellone”. The historical model is celebrated for its unusual combination of calendar information, moonphase display and elegant proportions—qualities that distinguished it from the sports watches now most closely associated with the marque.
The modern interpretation displays the date, day, month and moonphase alongside the time. Rolex describes the mechanism as an instantaneous complete annual calendar, meaning its indications are designed to change in a coordinated fashion while requiring correction only for the calendar’s exception periods, subject to the operating instructions.
Its importance lies not simply in adding another complication. Rolex’s current identity is built on refinement through repetition: familiar cases, bracelets and functions improved across generations. A Padellone-inspired calendar broadens that vocabulary and gives collectors a dressier, more poetic counterpoint to the brand’s professional models.
The challenge will be expectation. Any watch invoking reference 8171 arrives under the weight of auction history and collector mythology. The strongest modern revivals acknowledge that past without reproducing it mechanically. Rolex’s official description points to that balance, positioning the watch as a continuation of the earlier model’s spirit rather than a replica.
Australian price, allocation and delivery will be crucial. Demand for significant new Rolex references typically exceeds immediate supply, and availability can vary between authorised dealers. Prospective buyers should treat overseas pricing or secondary-market premiums cautiously until local retail information is confirmed.
For now, the Perpetual Padellone stands as one of Rolex’s most intellectually interesting recent releases: a technically ambitious watch that reminds collectors the company’s history extends well beyond the dive watch and chronograph.
Fact box
Model: Rolex Perpetual Padellone
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, date, day, month and moonphase
Complication: instantaneous complete annual calendar
Historical inspiration: Rolex reference 8171, nicknamed Padellone
A Sydney couple has paid $15.5 million for the Grand Penthouse at Marquee’s $285 million La Belle Residences beachfront development which is nearing completion at Palm Beach, eclipsing the record for an off-the-plan apartment sale on the southern Gold Coast. The sprawling single level 640 sqm beachfront residence, with sweeping views of the Gold Coast …
Continue reading “$15.5m La Belle Penthouse eclipses southern Gold Coast record”
On the owner’s deck, a 20-metre swimming pool incorporates Feadship’s patented ContraWave technology and extends indoors as a suspended, glass-bottomed infinity pool.
4 minA Sydney couple has paid $15.5 million for the Grand Penthouse at Marquee’s $285 million La Belle Residences beachfront development which is nearing completion at Palm Beach, eclipsing the record for an off-the-plan apartment sale on the southern Gold Coast.
The sprawling single level 640 sqm beachfront residence, with sweeping views of the Gold Coast north and south, beats the previous record of $14.6 million, set at the Sur Kirra Beach penthouse in Coolangatta in December 2025, and comes in 70 per cent above Palm Beach’s apartment suburb record of $9.1 million.
The buyer plans to make it their permanent home as they relocate to the Gold Coast. The result marks a turning point for Palm Beach. The suburb was once a quiet stretch of beach between Burleigh Heads and Currumbin and now ranks among the country’s most sought-after coastal addresses.
The sale also shows how the top of the market is changing, according to Jacques Winterburn of Marquee, one of Southeast Queensland’s most active private developers.
“For a long time the southern Gold Coast was where people came for holidays. Wealthy interstate buyers are no longer just buying holiday homes here, they are relocating,” Mr Winterburn said.
“These are people who live on Sydney Harbour. They had already decided to relocate to the Gold Coast, and what took the time was finding the right property in the right location. They chose the northern end of Palm Beach. The comparison has changed. They’re weighing Point Piper and Bondi against the premium end of Palm Beach. Absolute beachfront, genuinely quiet, Tallebudgera Inlet a short walk away and Burleigh minutes up the road without the noise and busyness that comes with living there. On space, beach access and lifestyle, this wins.”
The Grand Penthouse is built on the scale of a large house. It has 510 sqm of internal living space and a 130 sqm balcony, five bedrooms each with its own ensuite, a private cinema, an executive office, a wine display and multiple living areas. The hallways are two metres wide, which is almost unheard of in an apartment design.
The building sits on over 40 metres of absolute beach frontage. The penthouse itself runs 34 metres along the beachfront, one of the widest new apartments on the Gold Coast, and occupies a single level, so there are no stairs. Its 270-degree views run uninterrupted from Burleigh Headland and the Surfers Paradise skyline south to Currumbin and Snapper Rocks.
The couple moved quickly, committing within about a month after inspecting completed Marquee buildings across the Gold Coast and bringing friends along for a second opinion.
“They did their homework, but once they had seen the finished buildings the decision came easily,” sales and marketing spokesman Azura Griffen said. “At this price level, buyers wanted to walk through projects we had completed years ago, not look at renders. Track record and trust in delivery are the whole conversation.”
What took longer was the residence itself. Over the following months the couple worked with Marquee to customise the penthouse, reworking the layout so that every key living space looks out over the ocean.
“They knew exactly what they wanted. The ocean had to be in every room, the kitchen, the dining room, the master bedroom, the office,” Ms Griffen said. “Because Marquee is both the developer and the builder, we could work through those changes with them.”
Ms Griffen said the building being close to completion has given buyers confidence.
“Buying off the plan at this level is about trust. Buyers can now walk the site, see the finishes and stand on the balconies. Once they’ve done that, the decision usually makes itself.”
La Belle Palm Beach is due for completion by Christmas 2026. Marquee has already secured its next absolute beachfront site, in the same pocket at the northern end of Palm Beach, with a launch planned for early next year.
“We have a number of buyers who love the northern end of Palm Beach for the same reasons, a quiet serene beach, close to thetranquil waters of Tallebudgera, yet minutes from the restaurants of Burleigh Heads,” Ms Griffen said. “That feedback is why we secured our next site in the same pocket.”
“It will be more boutique, with larger apartments of 190 to 300 sqm and the same world-class amenity. It will be our best beachfront building yet.”
“We are already taking enquiry and pre-registrations, much of it from buyers who missed out at La Belle and want to make sure they do not miss the next one.”
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The Perpetual Padellone draws its name from the coveted reference 8171 while introducing an instantaneous complete annual calendar to Rolex’s modern Perpetual collection.
