A Collector’s Guide to Rolex Moonphase Watches

A moonphase indicator is typically reserved for relatively dressy watches, and Rolex is primarily a sports watch company. So while it’s not a complication Rolex has traditionally focused on, they have released exactly four moonphase watches in their history, all automatic and between 36mm and 39mm in width. The 6082 and 8171 “Padellone” both debuted around 1950 and only lasted a few years. Rolex didn’t make another one until 2017 with the Cellini Moonphase, and now there’s the Perpetual Padellone which pays homage to the 8171. Let’s go over all of them.

The Original Rolex Moonphase Watch: Padellone 8171

Moonphase triple calendar watches were not uncommon in the 1950s, but the Rolex ref. 8171 was remarkable both for its automatic movement and its 38mm size. That was quite big for the time, and the expansive dial spawned one of the most famous Rolex nicknames: “Padellone,” which is Italian for “large frying pan.” Three-letter month and day windows are at the top of the dial, while the traditional moonphase complication sits at 6 o’clock and a central hand points to the date written on the chapter ring.

The Padellone was only made from about 1949-1952, and I’ve seen estimates that between 1,000-1,500 were produced, most of which were steel. Among the gold models, yellow gold is more common than pink gold. Even a steel one without a bracelet will cost you over $100,000 these days, while a gold one with a bracelet will be north of $300,000. The bracelets are the old “straight-end” style of rivet bracelet. And it’s worth noting that the Padellone is one of very few Rolex models labeled Perpetual that does not have a waterproof Oyster case.

There are quite a few dial variations–some with or without the applied 12 at the top, some lacquered and others brushed–but always in silver. Some say “Precision” inside the moonphase subdial, some say “Officially Certified Chronometer,” and others say nothing at all. Some have leaf hands; others have dauphine hands. But, condition (and whether it’s gold or not) matters more than anything for a Rolex Padellone 8171. Powering the watch is caliber A.295 CPL, an in-house movement made by Aegler for Rolex (who Rolex has since acquired).

Rolex Oyster Perpetual 6062 Triple Calendar Moonphase

The Rolex ref. 6062 triple calendar moonphase, made from about 1950-1953, is the only moonphase Rolex ever put in an Oyster case. It’s also the smallest Rolex moonphase watch, with a diameter of 36mm. It has the same layout as the 8171 Padellone–pointer date, month and day windows up top, moon at the bottom–with the Rolex caliber 655 inside. The 655 is basically a shrunken version of the A.295 CPL (9¾ ligne instead of 10½ ligne).

Unlike the 8171, most 6062’s are yellow gold, so steel ones (some say less than 100 made) are actually particularly desirable. Also unlike the Padellone, the 6062 had black dial options. The most desirable dials are ones with diamonds at every other marker, and galaxy dials a.k.a. stelline dials (applied gold stars for hour markers).

Note that there are versions of the diamond dials that exist with the diamonds at odd hours, and there are also ones with diamonds at the even hours (except 6 because the moon is there). Bao Dai, former emperor of Vietnam, famously wore one with the latter configuration, and his “Bao Dai Rolex” was the most expensive Rolex ever sold for a period of time. These days you can expect to pay $400,000 for a yellow gold 6062 Rolex Oyster triple calendar moonphase, and over $600,000 for a steel or pink gold one.

Cellini Moonphase

The Rolex Cellini family of dress watches, launched in 1968, never had automatic movements nor seconds hands until 2013. That’s when Rolex revamped the Cellini lineup with 39mm gold cases sporting central seconds hands and self-winding movements. The most popular version of the modern-day Cellini is the Rolex Cellini Moonphase ref. 50535, which debuted in 2017 and lasted until the entire Cellini line was axed in 2023.

Every Cellini moonphase has a 39mm Everose gold case with a half-coin-edge bezel and a white lacquer dial. That’s the only configuration.

Its moonphase display is a blue enameled disc with a small circular piece of meteorite representing the full moon and an outline representing the new moon. To read the phase of the moon, look at the left moon (in the photo above, it’s the full moon) and see how far up it is. The indicator moves clockwise, so when the full moon is 1/3 up the left side (as shown above), the moon is 1/3 full and getting fuller (waxing). It’s not the most intuitive display, but at least it avoids “axe blade” cutout typical of moonphase watches.

Today, a good pre-owned Rolex Cellini Moonphase goes for about $25,000.

Perpetual Padellone

Rolex’s newest moonphase watch is the Perpetual Padellone, and it’s (basically) an annual calendar version of the Cellini Moonphase. It’s available in platinum ($66,200) or rose gold with an alligator strap and a folding clasp ($59,000). The rose gold version is also offered on the beautiful Settimo bracelet ($72,800).

The Padellone Perpetual’s 39mm case has an exhibition caseback which is slightly thinner than the Cellini (12.2mm instead of 13.3.mm) and it has also shrunken about 1mm lug-to-lug to 45.1mm. But the most impressive changes are inside.

The new Rolex caliber 7190 is an annual calendar version of the 7135 introduced in the Land-Dweller, one of Rolex’s 2025 releases. Instead of the Swiss lever escapement found in the vast majority of mechanical watches, it uses Rolex’s Dynapulse escapement. Two silicon escape wheels alternately act on an impulse rocker (instead of a pallet fork), which passes energy to the balance. This design supposedly decreases friction by 30%, which is why Rolex can still get 66 hours of power reserve despite upping the beat rate to 10 beats per second (from the usual 8).

Specs of All Rolex Moonphase Watches

Specification	“Padellone”	Oyster Perpetual Triple Calendar Moonphase	Cellini Moonphase	Perpetual Padellone
Model name	Padellone	Oyster Perpetual Triple Calendar Moonphase; “Stelline” for star-dial variants	Cellini Moonphase	Perpetual Padellone
Reference number(s)	8171	6062	50535-0002	53505-0002 (Rose gold, alligator strap) 53505-0003 (Rose gold, Settimo bracelet) 53506-0002 (Platinum, alligator strap)
Production run	1949-1952	1950-1953	2017-2023	2026+
Case material(s)	Stainless steel; yellow gold; pink gold	Stainless steel; yellow gold; pink gold	18 ct Everose gold	18 ct Everose gold; 950 platinum
Case width	38 mm	36 mm	39 mm	39 mm
Case thickness (incl. crystal)	13 mm	13 mm	13.3 mm	12.2 mm
Case lug-to-lug	47 mm	45.2 mm	46.2 mm	45.1 mm
Caseback	Non-Oyster snap-back	Solid Oyster caseback	Non-Oyster screwdown caseback	Non-Oyster screwdown exhibition caseback
Movement caliber	Aegler A.295 CPL, 10½-ligne (Automatic, 5 beats per second)	Rolex 655 Super Balance, 9¾-ligne (made by Aegler, automatic, 5 beats per second)	Rolex 3195 (Automatic, 8 beats per second)	Rolex 7190 (Automatic, dual-indirect-impulse escapement, 10 beats per second)
Movement functions	Hours, minutes, seconds, full calendar (day, month, pointer date), moonphase	Hours, minutes, seconds, full calendar (day, month, pointer date) moonphase	Hours, minutes, seconds, full calendar (day, month, pointer date), moonphase	Hours, minutes, seconds, annual calendar (day, month, pointer date), moonphase
Power reserve	42 hours	42 hours	48 hours	66 hours
Water resistance	Not waterproof	50 m	50 m	50 m
Crystal	Acrylic	Acrylic	Sapphire	Sapphire
Price	$100,000-$500,000 (2026 market value)	$375,000-$700,000 (2026 market value)	$26,750 (Final 2023 MSRP) $25,000 (2026 market value)	$59,000-$72,800 (2026 MSRP)

What About Moonphase Chronographs?

As I mention in my list of all Rolex chronographs, you may have seen old listings of Rolex triple calendar moonphase watches with a chronograph feature as well–ref. 8237 and 81806. The current consensus among collectors, which I agree with, seems to be that these are not legitimate. Lots of brands made watches with Valjoux 88 movements in the 1950s, and I assume watches like this are just clandestinely relabeled watches.

That should just about cover what you should know about Rolex moonphase watches, at least until they release a new one. I doubt they’ll wait 60 years this time.