New Rolex patent suggests the Crown may make a modern triple calendar watch

Zach Blass

Since the debut of the 1908, the entire Time+Tide team has been begging and praying that Rolex would utilise this ripe platform to return more classic, higher-end complications to the catalogue. Though Rolex has never been really associated with complications beyond a GMT or chronograph, the triple calendar Rolex ‘Stelline’ ref. 6202 is among the most sought-after vintage models from the Crown due to its rare, complicated form for the brand, selling well into the six figures with each scarce appearance at auction. However, a new patent may reveal that a modern triple calendar Rolex watch is no longer a ridiculous pipe dream.

Nick Gould, a.k.a @niccoloy, may be first and foremost known for being an expert watch-spotter, but he also does a remarkable job of keeping an eye out for new trademark and patent filings. In a patent published just last week, a figure is now public of an instantaneous jump mechanism that has two discs – one for the calendar day and the other for the month.

Now, Rolex’s recently discontinued Cellini line did boast a moonphase with a pointer date. The only thing missing from this watch is apertures for the day and month (and a mechanism with discs to display them). With the patent figure above incorporated into a design like Emmanuel Gueit’s Cellini Moonphase, a triple calendar would make an internet-breaking return to the Crown’s catalogue.

As @egyptianwatchguy commented on Nick Gould’s patent-revealing Instagram post, Rolex has, in fact, filed a trademark for “Padellone” last month, on September 25. Such a public move to earn better control over a collector-given nickname is, to my knowledge, unprecedented for Rolex. The Padellone, Italian for “large frying pan”, is another scarce example of a Rolex Triple Calendar watch, produced in extremely limited numbers for only three years from 1949 to around 1952, that has vintage collectors salivating upon an example coming up for sale.

While there is nothing that points to such a complicated 1908 like our contributor Tom’s render above, the instantaneous calendar discs pictured in the patent, combined with the moonphase and pointer date indications previously seen on the Cellini Moonphase, are really not far-fetched. We know Rolex has, to an extent, embraced leaning into its vintage icons, bringing a Singer Paul Newman Daytona-like font back to the dials of the Le Mans Daytona watches. Therefore, could we see Rolex further embrace its vintage flavour with a 1908 ‘Padellone’ in the next few years? With this surfaced patent, it feels like it is becoming more when than if. And that is very, very exciting – at least if you have good standing with your Rolex authorised dealer when the time comes.