Rolex Recasts the Padellone While Hublot Lets Jeff Koons Take Over

Some weeks in watchmaking are about incremental updates, and others feel like brands are openly talking to their own histories.

This was one of the latter, led by Rolex giving new life to the Padellone idea and Hublot turning Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog into something you can actually wear on the wrist.

Blancpain, Chopard and Glashütte Original added to the mood with small, distinctive launches that lean into heritage without feeling like simple nostalgia.

At a glance

Rolex gives the Padellone a modern annual calendar

Rolex doesn’t often embrace collector language so directly, which makes the Perpetual Padellone unusually interesting before you even get to the mechanics.

The watch takes its name and general calendar architecture from the Ref. 8171, a much-loved oversized Rolex triple calendar from the mid-20th century.

The new watch is not a simple rerun.

Instead of a traditional triple calendar, it uses an instantaneous complete annual calendar that needs only one correction per year, pairing old-school layout with a modern complication strategy.

The case measures 39mm by 12.2mm and is offered in 18K Everose gold or 950 platinum.

Dial options include intense white and ice-blue matte grained finishes, with applied Arabic numerals and markers in precious metal.

The moonphase is a particular highlight, using a blue enamel disc with full and new moons made from meteorite.

Inside is the self-winding caliber 7190, a 66-hour movement that combines Rolex’s Haplos calendar system with the Dynapulse escapement.

Prices begin at CHF 52,500 for the Everose gold model on a leather strap, rising to CHF 64,800 on the Everose gold Settimo bracelet, while the platinum version on leather is CHF 59,000.

Blancpain and Chopard return to compact glamour

Blancpain’s Lady B is a reminder that small mechanical watches can still carry serious character.

The 19mm watch marks 70 years since the 1956 Ladybird Bullet, a model associated with Betty Fiechter’s era at Blancpain.

Its lugless, spherical case comes in polished stainless steel or 18K red gold, with a double-tour calf-leather strap running through an integrated passage in the case.

The proportions are intentionally jewel-like, but the watch remains mechanical, using the self-winding caliber 615 with a 38-hour power reserve.

Chopard also went back to a foundational idea with the Happy Diamonds Heritage, celebrating the 50th birthday of Happy Diamonds by returning to the 1976 starting point of the collection.

Both Heritage models use cushion-shaped cases in 18K ethical yellow gold, black onyx dials and free-moving diamonds held between sapphire crystals.

The 34mm version contains 21 diamonds and the hand-wound Chopard caliber 10.01-C with 45 hours of power reserve.

The 24mm model uses nine diamonds and a Swiss quartz movement, keeping the focus on the compact jewellery-watch format.

Jeff Koons gives Hublot its most literal art watch moment

Hublot’s Jeff Koons collaboration is anything but subtle, and that’s clearly the point.

The Classic Fusion Balloon Dog translates Koons’ best-known motif into a 42mm case with domed, inflated-looking forms.

It comes in mirror-polished stainless steel, red anodised aluminium or blue anodised aluminium, each paired with a colour-matched rubber and metallic leather strap.

The details carry the concept all the way through, from the balloon-style crown to the decorative tail at 10:30 and the Balloon Dog counterweight on the seconds hand.

Each colour is limited to 200 pieces and priced at USD 25,100.

The MP-14 Origin by Jeff Koons is the more technically extravagant half of the release.

Limited to 30 pieces, it places Hublot’s first automatic central tourbillon inside a 44mm octagonal sapphire and titanium case with an integrated sapphire bracelet.

The HUB9014 movement uses 594 components, a peripheral winding system and delivers a 60-hour power reserve.

Its dial construction includes rings set with baguette diamonds and blue sapphires, with a translucent blue sapphire dome taking cues from Koons’ Gazing Ball works.

At USD 488,000, it sits firmly in Hublot’s high-concept, high-complication territory.

Glashütte Original sharpens its 70s silhouette

Glashütte Original has reworked its Seventies line for the first time in 15 years, shortening the name to 70s and tightening the proportions.

The television-shaped case now measures 39mm square and 9.6mm thick, giving the watch a cleaner stance on the wrist.

A neater integrated bracelet adds quick-change functionality, an increasingly useful feature for buyers who actually want to live with this style of watch.

The new hexagrid dials lean into analog-era naming, with silver “Stereo Panel”, brown “Tweed Amp” and a limited-edition black “Vinyl Record”.

Details & Specifications

What ties the week together is not simply vintage inspiration, but how differently each brand chose to handle it.

Rolex made a collector nickname feel official, Hublot embraced art-world spectacle, and the smaller revivals from Blancpain, Chopard and Glashütte Original showed that compact proportions and strong shapes still have plenty to say.