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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 8171 Padellone}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 8171 Padellone}}
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|title=Rolex 8171 'Padellone' — Triple-Calendar Moonphase, 1949–1952 | Rolexopedia
|title=Rolex 8171 Padellone: calendar, dials and production | Rolexopedia
|description=The 8171 is the complication flagship. Launched around 1949 and produced for roughly three years, it is — with its Oyster-cased sibling the 6062 — one of…
|description=Rolex 8171 Padellone: the 38 mm automatic calendar moonphase, made around 1949–1953. Dial variants, case details and documented auction examples.
|keywords=Rolex, 8171, Padellone, specifications, reference guide
|keywords=Rolex, 8171, Padellone, specifications, reference guide
|image=Ref 8171 hero.jpg
|image=Ref_8171_hero.webp
|image_alt=Rolex 8171 Padellone hero
|image_alt=Rolex 8171 Padellone hero
|type=Article
|type=Article
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[[File:Ref_8171_hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Rolex 8171 Padellone, yellow gold, triple-calendar moonphase|Rolex 8171 Padellone, yellow gold, triple-calendar moonphase]]
[[File:Ref_8171_hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Rolex 8171 Padellone, yellow gold, triple-calendar moonphase|Rolex 8171 Padellone, yellow gold, triple-calendar moonphase]]
</div>
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The Rolex 8171 is an automatic wristwatch with day and month windows, a pointer date and a moonphase display. It was made around 1949–1952/1953 in steel, yellow gold and pink gold. Its 38 mm case has a snap-on back. Collectors call it ''Padellone'', Italian for “big frying pan.” [https://www.fratellowatches.com/what-makes-the-rolex-padellone-ref-8171-so-special/ Fratello, 2024]; [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/214766 Phillips, lot 72]


The 8171 is the complication flagship. Launched around 1949 and produced for roughly three years, it is, with its Oyster-cased sibling the 6062, one of only two triple calendar moonphase references Rolex ever put into series production. Day, date, month, and moonphase, in a 38mm round case at a moment when dress watches were 32mm or smaller. Automatic caliber A.295 with a complete calendar module, the same A.295 platform that powers the Ovettone Datejust underneath the added complication. Non-Oyster, snap-on caseback, non-waterproof. The thing Rolex would not compromise on its sport references was exactly what it gave up to build a dress complication.
==Core facts==
 
Italian collectors named the watch ''Padellone'', "big pan": ''padella'' is Italian for frying pan and the -one suffix is an augmentative. The nickname is affectionate, registering a diameter that stood out far enough from its 1950s contemporaries that "big pan" was the first thing to say. The reference is now the most expensive non-chronograph vintage Rolex outside the Daytona lineage, and one of the most expensive Rolex watches ever sold at auction.
 
<span id="core-facts"></span>
== Core facts ==


{| class="wikitable rp-facts"
{| class="wikitable rp-facts"
|-
|-
! detail
! Detail !! Value
! value
|-
| reference
| 8171
|-
| nickname
| ''Padellone'' (Italian: "big pan")
|-
| family
| Padellone / triple calendar moonphase
|-
| production
| c. 1949 – c. 1952/1953
|-
| total production
| about 1,000–1,200 units (collector estimate)
|-
|-
| case diameter
| Reference || 8171, collector nickname Padellone
| 38mm
|-
|-
| case construction
| Production || Approximately 1949–1952/1953; published estimates
| two-piece, snap-on caseback (non-Oyster)
|-
|-
| water resistance
| Case || Usually catalogued as 38 mm; three-piece, non-Oyster, snap-on back
| none — non-Oyster case
|-
|-
| case materials
| Materials || Stainless steel, 18K yellow gold, 18K pink gold
| 18K yellow gold (most common); 18K pink gold (rare); stainless steel (very rare)
|-
|-
| movement
| Movement || Automatic A.295 CPL; 10½ lignes, 18 jewels in cited examples
| Cal. A.295 CPL (automatic, in-house Aegler)
|-
|-
| complications
| Displays || Hours and minutes; subsidiary seconds and moonphase at 6; day and month below 12; outer pointer date
| day, month (apertures at 12); date (peripheral pointer); moonphase (aperture at 6)
|-
|-
| crystal
| Calendar adjustment || Four recessed correctors
| acrylic, domed
|-
|-
| dial signature
| Crystal || Acrylic
| "Rolex Oyster Perpetual" + "Officially Certified Chronometer" or "Precision"
|-
|-
| bracelet
| Dial signature || Rolex Perpetual; Precision or Officially Certified Chronometer, depending on the dial
| leather strap, period Rolex buckle
|-
| italian nickname
| ''Padellone'' — parallel to ''Ovetto/Ovettone'' diminutive-augmentative pattern
|}
|}


<span id="what-the-8171-is"></span>
== Where it sits in the line ==
== What the 8171 is ==


By the late 1940s Rolex had Oyster, Perpetual, chronometer, and date. What it did not have was a flagship complication watch. The answer was a pair: the dressier 8171 and the Oyster-cased 6062, both triple-calendar moonphases on the same A.295 base. Rolex never returned to this kind of watch after the mid-1950s.
The contemporary [[Reference:6062|6062]] has the same calendar displays in a smaller Oyster case with a screw back. The movements differ: the 8171 uses the 10½-ligne A.295 CPL; Christie's identifies caliber 655 in its 6062 case 916321. Similar dials do not establish interchangeable movements. [https://www.fratellowatches.com/a-few-complicated-rolex-watches-from-the-archives/ Mondani, 2020]; [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6185890 Christie's, 6062 case 916321]


Within the 6062/8171 pair, the 8171 is the non-Oyster dress watch. That is the simple line to remember.
Rolex later used a moonphase display in the Cellini 50535. Its pointer date accompanies the moonphase; it has no day or month windows. [https://content.rolex.com/dam/media/brochures/cellini/m50535-0002.pdf Rolex, Cellini brochure]


<span id="padella-and-padellone"></span>
In 2026, Rolex named its new annual-calendar moonphase watch after ref. 8171, which collectors call Padellone. The new model uses Cal. 7190. [https://newsroom.rolex.com/fr/watches/new-watches/perpetual-padellone Rolex Newsroom, 2026]
== Padella and Padellone ==


''Padella'' is the Italian word for frying pan. ''-one'' is the Italian augmentative suffix; applied to a noun, it produces a bigger version. ''Padellone'' is "big pan." Italian collectors used the nickname as the reference circulated through the Italian auction and dealer market from the 1980s onward, and it stuck.
== Production outline ==


The naming follows the same diminutive-augmentative pattern as the Bubbleback-era ''Ovetto/Ovettone'' distinction. ''Ovetto'' (little egg) is the 32mm Bubbleback. ''Ovettone'' (big egg) is the 36mm Big Bubbleback, including the 4467. For the 8171, the augmentative -one operates on ''padella'' directly. The 38mm case was, for a 1950s dress watch, conspicuously large. A period-correct dress watch of 1950 was 32–34mm, often 30mm. A 38mm dial sat on the wrist like a flat, wide plate, hence a big pan.
Published estimates usually start in 1949 and end in 1952 or 1953. Individual catalogue dates can conflict with that range. Bonhams dated a gold example to about 1955 while describing production as 1949–1952. Sotheby's dated steel case 686356 to about 1963 but described an early-1950s production run in the same entry. These inconsistencies do not establish continued manufacture. [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/24235/lot/115/rolex-a-very-rare-18k-gold-automatic-triple-calendar-wristwatch-with-moon-phase-padellone-ref-8171-circa-1955/ Bonhams, lot 115]; [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/important-watches-2/rolex-padellone-reference-8171-a-stainless-steel Sotheby's, lot 2143]


"Padellone" is now the universal collector-market term for the reference. Phillips, Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams, and Antiquorum all use it in lot titles.
Steel case 1977074 is a separate problem. Phillips catalogued it as circa 1950; its unusually high number prompted discussion of a later case or later assembly. Neither Phillips nor SJX supplied a factory record resolving the discrepancy. Use the individual watch's documents and construction alongside its numbers; a general serial chart cannot settle this case. [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080219/175 Phillips, lot 175]; [https://watchesbysjx.com/2019/10/rolex-8171-padellone-steel.html SJX, 2019]


<span id="the-38mm-case"></span>
Production totals are estimates. Clymer gives about 600 steel watches; Christie's gives about 800. Older Christie's essays say production was mostly yellow gold, whereas Phillips' 2025 account calls steel the material most commonly seen. Those statements describe different populations and do not support a fixed rarity ranking by metal. [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/in-depth-rolex-8171-padellone-moonphase Clymer, 2023]; [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6567914 Christie's, lot 22]; [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5759044 Christie's, lot 186]; [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/214766 Phillips, lot 72]
== The 38mm case ==


At 38mm, the 8171 was about 4–6mm larger than its dress-watch contemporaries and roughly 2mm larger than the 6062. The case is round with tapered, fluted lugs and a smooth stepped bezel. No decorative fluting, no engine-turning, no anniversary flourish. The visual weight lives in the diameter and in the dial: eight pieces of information (hour, minute, second, day, month, date, moonphase, moon age indicator) sit inside the chapter ring, arranged around apertures at 12 and 6 and a peripheral date track read by a central blued-steel pointer.
== Movement notes ==


Case construction is two-piece: mid-case and snap-on caseback. The caseback snaps into the mid-case with a friction fit and is opened with a caseback knife rather than a threaded spanner. This is standard watchmaking practice for dress watches of the period, and it is the opposite of the Oyster approach. The 8171's caseback carries a serial number and the Rolex coronet but no depth rating, no "Oyster" engraving, and no model-line marking.
[[File:Ref_8171_movement.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Dial-side calendar mechanism of a Rolex 8171|Dial-side calendar mechanism, with the day, month and moonphase discs exposed.]]


Three recessed pushers on the caseband correct the day, month, and moon indications. Date advances with the hour hand through the 24-hour cycle, without quickset, consistent with the A.295 generation. The crown is a small dress-style pushpiece rather than the screw-down brevet crown used on the Oyster cases. Opening and closing the 8171 for service is quick compared to an Oyster, but the trade-off is well documented: snap-on backs lose seal tolerance through repeated service cycles, and many 8171 dials today show moisture-driven patina variability as a direct consequence.
The automatic movement is usually described as A.295 CPL, sometimes shortened to A295 or recorded by its 10½-ligne size. The cited Christie's examples have 18 jewels. Running seconds share the subdial at 6 with the moonphase. The long central pointer reads the date scale. [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5759044 Christie's, lot 186]; [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-5195914 lot 52]


<span id="materials-yellow-gold-pink-gold-steel"></span>
Four recessed correctors sit in the case band. Giorgia Mondani gives this arrangement. [https://www.fratellowatches.com/a-few-complicated-rolex-watches-from-the-archives/ Mondani, 2020]
== Materials: yellow gold, pink gold, steel ==


The 8171 was produced in 18K yellow gold, 18K pink gold, and stainless steel. Yellow gold dominates the documented population. The majority of auction lots, dealer listings, and published examples are 18K yellow gold. Pink gold is substantially rarer; collectors estimate the pink gold population at a small fraction of yellow. Steel is the unicorn.
{| class="wikitable"
 
|-
Dealer consensus usually puts steel production around 800 pieces, though the auction survivor count feels much lower. That mismatch is one of the open questions that still hangs over the steel 8171 story.
! Position !! Function
|-
| Near 2 || Month
|-
| Near 4 || Date
|-
| Near 8 || Moonphase
|-
| Near 10 || Weekday
|}


Why steel exists at all on a dress complication is still not documented cleanly. The practical point is that steel Padellones are the most sought-after configuration, even if the production logic behind them stays unclear.
The recessed date corrector advances the pointer independently of the time-setting hands. Dial wording varies: “Precision” and “Officially Certified Chronometer” are both documented. A Precision dial alone does not establish chronometer certification. [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/important-watches-2/rolex-padellone-reference-8171-a-stainless-steel Sotheby's, lot 2143]; [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080119/68 Phillips, lot 68]


<span id="the-dial"></span>
== Dial map ==
== The dial ==


<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
Line 119: Line 91:
</gallery>
</gallery>


Dial text follows the Rolex convention of the period. Coronet at 12, "Rolex" beneath, then "Oyster Perpetual" on two lines. Below 6, above the moonphase aperture, either "Officially Certified Chronometer" or "Precision"; both are correct, both appear on documented examples, and the two configurations do not track cleanly to case material or production year. Day and month are printed in small apertures flanking the 12 position. The date runs around the dial periphery as a printed track, read by a central blued-steel pointer hand. The moonphase aperture at 6 shows the waxing and waning crescent across a starfield, with the moon disc rotating through the lunar cycle.
The usual layout places a coronet above the calendar windows and “Rolex Perpetual” below them, with the lower designation in the seconds subdial. The early pink-gold arrangement moves the brand name above the windows and the chronometer wording below them. “Oyster Perpetual” is not the signature shown on these 8171 dials. [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/214766 Phillips, lot 72]; [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5130491 Christie's, case 667009]


Most 8171 dials are silvered with applied gilt baton hour markers. The outer minute track is printed black. The outer calendar track, the ring of date numbers 1 through 31 around the edge, is printed blue on silvered dials, producing the two-tone graphic read common to the reference.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Configuration !! Documented example and limits
|-
| Silvered, grained or two-tone || Phillips describes a lacquered two-tone dial on steel case 1977074 and contrasts it with the more usual grained steel dials. Yellow-gold case 762159 has a two-tone dial. [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080219/175 Phillips, lot 175]; [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080119/68 lot 68]
|-
| Steel case with gold- or silver-colored furniture || Clymer illustrates steel watches with both colors of markers and hands. Gold-colored furniture is not restricted to a gold case. [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/in-depth-rolex-8171-padellone-moonphase Clymer, illustrated comparison]
|-
| Early pink-gold printing || Cases 667005 and 667009 have the crown and Rolex Perpetual above the windows, with the chronometer wording below. [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/214766 Phillips, lot 72]
|-
| French-market dial || Pink-gold case 667009 combines FAB. SUISSE and SWISS MADE. Le Monde Edmond also describes French calendar discs. [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5130491 Christie's, case 667009]; [https://le-monde-edmond.com/rolex-8171/ Le Monde Edmond]
|-
| Luminous Arabic 12 || Steel case 685878 has a silvered grained dial, Arabic 12, luminous accents and luminous spade hands. [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-5195914 Christie's, lot 52]
|-
| Diamond markers || Steel case 902514 has diamonds at 3, 6, 9 and 12 on a two-tone silvered dial. [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5759044 Christie's, lot 186]
|-
| Black and gilt, restored || Steel case 901479 has a black dial and gilt printing. Sotheby's considered it a factory black dial restored decades earlier, probably by Rolex. The factory attribution is the house's opinion; the restoration is explicit in its condition report. [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/watches-n09235/lot.309.html Sotheby's, lot 309]
|}


Several dial and hand variants are documented. The useful collector split is between the ordinary silvered watches and the rare configurations: grain-finish silver, salmon, black, and the two-tone dial that carried the 2019 Phillips result.
Christie's uses “Type A” or “Arabic” for dials attributed to Beyeler, and “Type B” or “Bullet” for those attributed to Stern Frères. Its essay also credits Stern Frères with the enamelled moonphase and calendar discs. These are supplier and design labels, not a dated Mk sequence. [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6567914 Christie's, lot 22]


Hand configurations vary with the dial. Most 8171 dials carry gold dauphine hands on gold cases; feuille hands appear on certain configurations. The central seconds hand is typically a simple baton; the date pointer is blued steel with a fine arrow tip that reaches the periphery.
Dial condition needs its own description. Bonhams explicitly calls its 2017 gold example's dial refinished; Antiquorum grades the dial of steel case 820642 as restored. Neither is a reliable untouched-dial template. [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/24235/lot/115/rolex-a-very-rare-18k-gold-automatic-triple-calendar-wristwatch-with-moon-phase-padellone-ref-8171-circa-1955/ Bonhams, lot 115]; [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-8171-lot-312-469 Antiquorum, lot 469]


<span id="movement-a.295-cpl"></span>
== Case, bezel, crystal and crown ==
== Movement: A.295 CPL ==
[[File:Ref_8171_movement.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=8171 movement and calendar mechanism|8171 movement with triple-calendar mechanism and moonphase disc]]


The case has three parts: bezel, middle and snap-on back. The smooth bezel leaves much of the 38 mm diameter to the dial. An acrylic crystal covers it. This is a non-Oyster case; the presence of a Super Oyster crown on an example does not change the case-back construction. [https://www.fratellowatches.com/a-few-complicated-rolex-watches-from-the-archives/ Mondani, 2020]; [https://www.fratellowatches.com/what-makes-the-rolex-padellone-ref-8171-so-special/ Fratello, 2024]


The 8171 uses caliber A.295 CPL, the same A.295 platform (10.5 lignes, 18 jewels, rhodium-plated, self-winding with a unidirectional perpetual rotor, straight-line lever escapement, Breguet balance spring) used in the 4467 Ovettone, with the addition of a complete-calendar-plus-moonphase module. "CPL" is the complication suffix. The movement is chronometer-certified, and dials are marked accordingly.
Clymer describes polished lug faces, satin-finished sides and a vertically grained back. The serial number and coronet on the outside of the back are shallow and easily lost through wear or polishing. Sharp engraving needs comparison with the rest of the case, rather than being treated as proof of an untouched watch. [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/in-depth-rolex-8171-padellone-moonphase Clymer, 2023]


The caliber matters because it ties the 8171 back to the Big Bubbleback and Datejust world, and because it separates the watch from the Datocompax references of the same era. The 8171 is not Valjoux-based and not a chronograph. The consistent reading across serious Rolex sources is A.295 CPL.
Steel, 18K yellow gold and 18K pink gold are represented by identified lots below. Phillips attributes hammer mark 115 to case maker Favre-Perret in its pink-gold catalogue entry. Christie's also mentions steel-and-gold examples, but its essay supplies no individual case number for that material combination. [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/214766 Phillips, lot 72]; [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6567914 Christie's, lot 22]


No quickset. Date changes with the hour hand, advanced through a 24-hour cycle. Day, month, and moon are corrected by recessed caseband pushers, pressed with a paperclip or a dedicated tool. The mechanism is sound in period service but, as with any complete-calendar movement of the era, has a few hours around midnight when correction should be avoided; pushing against an engaged change mechanism will damage the teeth.
Clymer reports unsigned flat crowns, flat crowns with a coronet and Super Oyster crowns on watches described as original-owner examples. This supports more than one possible period configuration. It does not prove the crown on a particular watch is original: Sotheby's expressly calls the Super Oyster crown on black-dial case 901479 a later replacement. [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/in-depth-rolex-8171-padellone-moonphase Clymer, 2023]; [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/watches-n09235/lot.309.html Sotheby's, lot 309 condition report]


<span id="the-6062-and-the-complication-pair"></span>
== Straps, bracelets and papers ==
== The 6062 and the complication pair ==


The 8171's sister reference is the 6062, the Oyster-cased version of the same complication set, produced concurrently in 18K yellow gold, 18K pink gold, and stainless steel. Same day-month-date-moonphase complication set, same general dial architecture — but a different movement. The 6062 runs caliber 655, a "Super-Balance" automatic built specifically for that model; Christie's and Sotheby's lot cataloguing and Hodinkee's dedicated in-depth piece on the 6062 all independently name caliber 655, correcting an earlier claim on this page that the two references shared the same A.295 CPL movement (a Phillips collectors' guide does describe the pair as sharing "the same self-winding caliber," but the more specific auction-house cataloguing is the better-evidenced reading). The differences that do hold are case construction and case size. The 6062 is an Oyster: 36mm, screw-down caseback, screw-down crown, waterproof. The 8171 is non-Oyster: 38mm, snap-on caseback, dress crown, non-waterproof.
Leather straps and Rolex buckles appear in auction sets. Phillips describes the strap and 18K buckle on yellow-gold case 762159 as original. Pink-gold case 667005 was offered with a gold-plated Rolex buckle. The catalogues document both solid-gold and gold-plated buckles; original delivery needs evidence for the individual set. [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080119/68 Phillips, lot 68]; [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/214766 lot 72]


Within Rolex history, the 6062 and 8171 are treated as a pair. Collector vocabulary uses both names without hierarchy. Auction catalogs cross-reference: Phillips, Sotheby's, Christie's, and Bonhams all describe the 8171 and the 6062 in each other's terms when one surfaces. The 6062 produced the Bao Dai result: Phillips Geneva May 2017, CHF 5,066,000, the black dial diamond-marker example commissioned by the last Vietnamese emperor. That lot is not an 8171 lot, but it is the apex of the complication pair's market history and sits on a watch that is mechanically identical to the 8171 beneath the Oyster case.
The steel 8171 sold from Ben Clymer's collection in 2024 wore a Gay Frères riveted bracelet. Clymer states that he added it after buying the watch. Its 3.53 clasp stamp dates the bracelet component, not the watch head. Christie's likewise describes the bracelet on case 820757 as period-correct; that wording does not establish delivery with the watch. [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/NY080424/33 Phillips, lot 33]; [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6567914 Christie's, lot 22]


The distinction is simple. The 6062 is the Oyster complication watch. The 8171 is the dress complication watch. Rolex stopped making either kind after the mid-1950s.
Case 762159 came with a numbered tag and presentation box. The tag reads “Rolex Oyster” even though the watch has a non-Oyster case. Case 667005 came with an Avolio guarantee from Catania, a timing certificate dated 13 April 1950, literature and a fitted box. These are documented sets for those watches, not a universal 8171 packaging specification. [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080119/68 Phillips, lot 68]; [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/214766 lot 72]


<span id="auction-record"></span>
== Auction record ==
== Auction record ==


The 8171's public auction history is dominated by four or five landmark results, with a deeper tier of yellow gold standard-configuration sales establishing the reference's baseline.
The results below belong to identified watches. They do not establish a price band for every example in the same metal.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Venue
! Sale !! Case / material !! Configuration or accompanying items !! Published result
! Date
! Lot
! Material
! Configuration
! Result
|-
| Christie's New York Important Watches, sale 2753 ("Sleeping Beauty")
| 17 Dec 2013
| 186
| stainless steel, diamond-set numerals
| triple calendar moonphase
| USD 1,145,000 (est. 250,000–350,000)
|-
|-
| Phillips Geneva Watch Auction Nine
| [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5759044 Christie's New York, 17 Dec 2013, lot 186] || 902514 / steel || Diamond markers; two-tone dial || USD 1,145,000
| May 2019
| 68
| 18K YG
| two-tone dial, original hang tag and box
| CHF 980,000
|-
|-
| Phillips Geneva Watch Auction Ten
| [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080119/68 Phillips Geneva IX, May 2019, lot 68] || 762159 / yellow gold || Two-tone dial; numbered tag and box || CHF 980,000
| Nov 2019
| 175
| stainless steel
| exceptional preservation
| CHF 1,028,000
|-
|-
| Sotheby's Important Watches Part I
| [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080219/175 Phillips Geneva X, Nov 2019, lot 175] || 1977074 / steel || Lacquered two-tone dial; anomalous serial number || CHF 1,028,000
| 2023
| —
| 18K YG
| circa 1950
| — (standard-tier result)
|-
|-
| Phillips New York Watch Auction: XI
| [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/NY080424/33 Phillips New York XI, 7 Dec 2024, lot 33] || 820744 / steel || Ben Clymer collection; later-added Gay Frères bracelet || USD 203,200
| 7 Dec 2024
| 33
| stainless steel
| triple calendar moonphase, Gay Frères bracelet
| USD 203,200 (est. 100,000–200,000)
|-
|-
| Phillips Bacs &amp; Russo
| [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/214766 Phillips Geneva XXI, May 2025, lot 72] || 667005 / pink gold || Early dial layout; guarantee and dated certificate || CHF 508,000
| Dec 2024
| —
| —
| —
| USD 100,205
|}
|}


The Christie's December 2013 "Sleeping Beauty" sale is the historically important result. Estimated at USD 250,000–350,000, the watch sold for USD 1,145,000 after a multi-country bidding contest, a world auction record for the reference. The "Sleeping Beauty" nickname attached at the moment of sale, a play on the price surprise and on the watch itself, a stainless steel 8171 with diamond-set numerals that had been quiet in the market until that night. The sale restructured collector perception of the 8171 and of complicated Rolex in general; a seven-figure result for a triple-calendar moonphase moved the reference into territory that until then had belonged to the chronographs.
Christie's result sheet lists the 2013 price including buyer's premium and describes it as a record for reference 8171 at that sale. The Phillips amounts are the houses' published sold results. [https://press.christies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/558fb3b7610e3b375f7c9aac9bcafdab.pdf Christie's 2013 results]
 
Phillips' 2019 pair is the modern market benchmark: CHF 980,000 for a top yellow-gold watch and CHF 1,028,000 for a benchmark steel one. That pair is still the clearest marker of where the reference sits.
 
Standard yellow gold 8171 results run well below these landmarks. The 2024 cycle produced results in the USD 100,000–200,000 range for mid-tier examples. Condition, preservation of factory finishes, originality of dial, presence of original paperwork and packaging, and material (gold versus steel) all move the result meaningfully within the tier. Dealer asking prices for yellow gold 8171s typically run USD 120,000–300,000+ depending on configuration; steel examples rarely surface at retail at all.
 
The market tier structure for the 8171 is clear in outline: steel at the apex (seven-figure ceiling, mid-six-figure baseline); pink gold as a scarcity-premium tier above standard yellow gold; yellow gold as the volume tier, itself heavily stratified by dial, provenance, and preservation.
 
<span id="what-the-8171-established-and-did-not"></span>
== What the 8171 established, and did not ==
 
The 8171 did not found a line. No 8171 successor reference exists. Rolex did not continue the complete-calendar-moonphase programme past the 1950s, did not reissue a 38mm non-Oyster dress complication, and has not revisited the moonphase as a series production complication in any wristwatch reference since. The 8171 and the 6062 are a closed chapter.
 
What the 8171 did establish was that Rolex could, when it chose to, produce a complete-calendar-plus-moonphase complication at the same level of finish and chronometer certification as its three-hand watches. The A.295 CPL movement was not an outsourced module in the Datocompax sense; it was an in-house Aegler platform with an added complication. The 8171 and 6062 showed, briefly, what a complicated Rolex could look like. The firm's subsequent decision to orient around sport-watch specialization (Submariner, GMT-Master, Day-Date, Daytona) relegated that demonstration to a single reference pair and closed the door on a path the 8171 had opened.
 
The market recognized the closure retroactively. Through the 1970s and 1980s, 8171s traded quietly. Through the 1990s, collector attention grew. The 2013 Christie's "Sleeping Beauty" sale marked the moment the reference became an apex collector artifact. The 2017 Bao Dai 6062 result at CHF 5M extended that status to the pair. By the late 2010s, Phillips Geneva auctions had established both the yellow gold benchmark (CHF 980,000) and the steel benchmark (CHF 1,028,000) for the 8171 in isolation.
 
<span id="related-references"></span>
== Related references ==
 
The 6062 is the Oyster-cased sibling: caliber 655, same complication set, 36mm screw-down Oyster case, produced concurrently in yellow gold, pink gold, and stainless steel. The Bao Dai 6062 (Phillips May 2017, CHF 5,066,000) is the highest public result for the complication pair, since surpassed by an October 2025 6062 sale — see [[Reference:6062|Reference:6062]] and the [[Reference:padellone|Padellone family hub]] for the full pair.
 
The Rolex Datocompax chronographs (4767, 5036, 6036, 6236) are chronograph-plus-calendar references of the same era, using the Valjoux 72C ébauche with Rolex finishing. They are not mechanically related to the 8171 (different base caliber, chronograph function), but they occupy the same complication-flagship segment Rolex addressed in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The 6236, produced from 1958, is known as the "Jean-Claude Killy" after the skier's ownership of one.
 
The 4467 is the Big Bubbleback Ovettone. It shares the A.295 movement platform without the CPL complication module. The 4467 and the 8171 are the two most prominent A.295-family dress references, one with a date, one with a full calendar and moonphase. Naming follows the same Italian augmentative pattern: ''Ovettone'' (big egg), ''Padellone'' (big pan).
 
The 6305 is the first Datejust with a Cyclops (1954): Oyster-cased, single date complication, Cal. 1030. It is the Oyster-cased continuation of the dress-with-date programme, while the 8171 and 6062 are the non-continuation of the dress-with-full-calendar programme.
 
The Padellone sits at the chronograph-and-complication tail of the same era as the [[Reference:pre-daytona-chronographs|pre-Daytona chronograph]] line; the 8171 carries the calendar-and-moonphase complication while the 3525 / 4xxx / 6034 / 6234 / 6238 references carry the chronograph complication into the 6239 and the Cosmograph Daytona.


Rolex itself revived the name in September 2026 with the Perpetual Padellone (refs. 53505/53506), a modern annual-calendar moonphase dress watch that credits both the 8171 and the 6062 as its ancestors. It is current production and outside this wiki's pre-2020 scope; see the [[Reference:padellone|Padellone family hub]] for that context.
<span id="collecting-considerations"></span>
== Collecting considerations ==
== Collecting considerations ==


The 8171 occupies a narrow but well-defined collecting slot. It is a bona fide rarity in absolute terms, the complication flagship of the Bubbleback-era Rolex, and a reference whose market has been established at auction for more than two decades with a clear tier structure.
Start with the case number, dial layout and a clear movement photograph. Compare the date-track printing and the edges of the calendar windows with a documented example of the same layout. Record refinishing, replacement crowns and later-added bracelets separately from original-delivery claims. Sotheby's black-dial watch has a documented restoration, while Clymer's watch has a later-added bracelet. [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/watches-n09235/lot.309.html Sotheby's, lot 309]; [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/NY080424/33 Phillips, lot 33]


The configuration hierarchy runs from steel at the apex to standard yellow gold at the base. A stainless steel example with original dial, hands, case finish, and paperwork sits at the top, the Phillips November 2019 Lot 175 tier. An 18K pink gold example with original dial and paperwork carries a scarcity premium over yellow gold but falls below steel. An 18K yellow gold example with a rare dial (salmon, black, or two-tone) plus box and paperwork is the Phillips May 2019 Lot 68 tier. Below that sits the yellow gold standard-silvered-dial example with box and paperwork, and below that the same without paperwork.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 8171 hero.webp|alt=Rolex 8171 Padellone, yellow gold, triple-calendar moonphase|Rolex 8171 Padellone, yellow gold, triple-calendar moonphase
File:Ref 8171 dial.webp|alt=8171 dial, front|8171 dial, front
File:Ref 8171 dial-reverse.webp|alt=8171 dial, reverse — day, month, and moonphase disc apertures|8171 dial, reverse — day, month, and moonphase disc apertures
File:Ref 8171 movement.webp|alt=Dial-side calendar mechanism of a Rolex 8171|Dial-side calendar mechanism, with the day, month and moonphase discs exposed.
</gallery>


Authentication on the 8171 comes down to a short checklist. Case metal first: yellow gold, pink gold, and steel all exist, so swapped cases matter. Movement next: it should be A.295 CPL throughout. Dial originality is critical, especially on salmon, black, and other rare colours. Case condition matters because the snap-on caseback does not tolerate repeated opening well. Calendar correctors should work cleanly, because parts are not easy to source. Original box, hang tag, and paperwork add major value, as the Phillips 2019 result made clear.
== Sources ==


Period-correct leather straps and Rolex buckles in matching metal appear on the strongest auction examples. A gold 8171 on a service strap with a non-Rolex buckle is a routine presentation; a gold 8171 on a period Rolex strap with a matching gold buckle is not.
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/what-makes-the-rolex-padellone-ref-8171-so-special/ Robert-Jan Broer, Fratello: hands-on 8171, 2024]
 
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/214766 Phillips Geneva XXI, May 2025, lot 72, pink gold, case 667005]
== Sources ==
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/a-few-complicated-rolex-watches-from-the-archives/ Giorgia Mondani, Fratello: A Few Complicated Rolex Watches From The Archives, 2020]
* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2019/10/rolex-8171-padellone-steel.html SJX Watches — 8171 padellone steel 2019]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6185890 Christie's: 6062 case 916321, caliber 655]
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/what-makes-the-rolex-padellone-ref-8171-so-special/ What Makes The Rolex Padellone Ref. 8171 So Special?] — Robert-Jan Broer, Fratello, 2024
* [https://content.rolex.com/dam/media/brochures/cellini/m50535-0002.pdf Rolex: Cellini Moonphase 50535 brochure]
* [https://www.coronet.org/ Coronet — 8171 history]
* [https://newsroom.rolex.com/fr/watches/new-watches/perpetual-padellone Rolex Newsroom: Perpetual Padellone, 15 September 2026; gives name origin and Cal. 7190]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080119/68 The Geneva Watch Auction: NINE, 12 May 2019, Lot 68 — ref. 8171 ''Padellone'', 18K yellow gold, case 762'159] — Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/24235/lot/115/rolex-a-very-rare-18k-gold-automatic-triple-calendar-wristwatch-with-moon-phase-padellone-ref-8171-circa-1955/ Bonhams London, 13 December 2017, lot 115, refinished gold example]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080219/175 The Geneva Watch Auction: X, 10 November 2019, Lot 175 — ref. 8171 ''Padellone'', stainless steel, case 1'977'074] — Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/important-watches-2/rolex-padellone-reference-8171-a-stainless-steel Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9 October 2020, lot 2143, case 686356]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5759044 Important Watches, New York, sale 2753, 17 December 2013, Lot 186 — ref. 8171 ''Padellone'', stainless steel with diamond-set numerals, case 902'514] — Christie's
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080219/175 Phillips Geneva X, November 2019, lot 175, steel, case 1977074]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/NY080424/33 The New York Watch Auction: XI, 7 December 2024, Lot 33 — ref. 8171 ''Padellone'', stainless steel, case 820'744] — Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo
* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2019/10/rolex-8171-padellone-steel.html SJX Watches, 2019: steel Padellone, case 1977074]
* [https://www.hautetime.com/close-up-1-14-million-rolex-reference-8171-padellone/38057/ Close Up: $1.14 Million Rolex Reference 8171 "Padellone"] — Adrienne Faurote, HauteTime, 27 December 2013
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/in-depth-rolex-8171-padellone-moonphase Benjamin Clymer, Hodinkee: Curiosity And The Crown, 2023; originally published 2019]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/important-watches-2/rolex-padellone-reference-8171-a-stainless-steel Important Watches, Hong Kong, 9 October 2020, Lot 2143 — ref. 8171 ''Padellone'', stainless steel, case 686'356] — Sotheby's
* [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6567914 Christie's, lot 22, case 820757: Type A dial and Gay Frères bracelet]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/24235/lot/115/rolex-a-very-rare-18k-gold-automatic-triple-calendar-wristwatch-with-moon-phase-padellone-ref-8171-circa-1955/ Fine Watches and Wristwatches, London New Bond Street, 13 December 2017, Lot 115 — 18K gold ref. 8171 ''Padellone'', cal. A295 CPL no. 20696] — Bonhams
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5759044 Christie's New York, 17 December 2013, lot 186, case 902514]
* [https://le-monde-edmond.com/rolex-8171/ Le Monde Edmond — 8171]
* [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-5195914 Christie's, lot 52, case 685878: luminous Arabic-12 dial]
* [https://amsterdamvintagewatches.com/ Amsterdam Vintage Watches — 8171]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080119/68 Phillips Geneva IX, May 2019, lot 68, yellow gold, case 762159]
* [https://hairspring.com/ Hairspring — 8171]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5130491 Christie's Important Watches, 2008, case 667009: pink gold, French-market dial]
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/ Bob's Watches — watches 8171]
* [https://le-monde-edmond.com/rolex-8171/ Edmond Saran, Le Monde Edmond: Rolex 8171, French-market pink-gold example]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6446730 Christie's — ref. 6062 "Stelline," 18K pink gold, case 788'629 (ex-Gordon Bethune)]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/watches-n09235/lot.309.html Sotheby's New York, 2014, lot 309: black dial and condition report]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-rolex-6062-triple-calendar-moonphase-and-why-it-remains-the-biggest-star-in-all-of-vintage-rolex In-Depth: The Rolex 6062 Triple Calendar Moonphase] — Hodinkee, 2023-10-27
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-8171-lot-312-469 Antiquorum Hong Kong, 21 April 2018, lot 469, case 820642: restored dial]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/2026-rolex-perpetual-padellone-annual-calendar-moonphase-dynapulse-53505-53506-review-video-price/ The new Rolex Perpetual Padellone, The Return of an Icon] — Brice Goulard, Monochrome Watches, 2026-09-15
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/NY080424/33 Phillips New York XI, 7 December 2024, lot 33, case 820744]
* [https://press.christies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/558fb3b7610e3b375f7c9aac9bcafdab.pdf Christie's New York, 17 December 2013: published sale results]


[[Category:Padellone]]
[[Category:Padellone]]
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