If you invested five hours of your time into Acquired’s most recent podcast, diving deep into the history of Rolex, you would have heard the story of a brand shifting over decades from utility to aspirational luxury. When viewing the entire timeline of Rolex reference production, that trend is fairly obvious. The brand of the “bubbleback” Oyster case for the everyman, incrementally became the Crown we know and love, in all of its Rainbow Daytona and polished centerlink glory. Certain models in that lineage buck the larger trend. I’m sure you can assume where I’m going here, the reference 8171 “Padellone” is an outlier in the UK best replica Rolex watches brand journey.
Produced from 1949 to 1953, we are firmly in the pre-Professional catalog, “bubbleback” Rolex era. The majority of the catalog featured stainless steel cases under 36mm in diameter with a heavy emphasis on robust wearability. Radium luminous material use was rampant. Yet, the high quality copy Rolex Padellone watches are 38mm in diameter, wearing notably flat hence the “frying pan” nickname, and has a very elegant, dressy aura. This anti-Rolex, almost Patek Philippe wrist presence is especially so when an 8171 is found in yellow gold, like the one we have here. Of the estimated 1,200 examples produced, fewer than 350 are thought to be in yellow gold.
A rare bird, this particular UK cheap super clone Rolex Padellone watches are made remarkable by its condition. As a non-Oyster, snap back case, unfortunately, a ton of 8171s have aged poorly. Discolored and spotted dials are commonplace, and I don’t mean the kind of aging that can be passed off as an attractive “tropical” patina. We could use that word with this one though as the light discoloration is even throughout. If you take a look at other examples of this reference, you will only love this dial condition more and more. Furthermore, the case condition here is jaw-dropping from the sharp lugs to the brushing on the case band and the crisp coronet on the caseback. The luxury replica Rolex watches coronet and serial number engraving was notoriously shallow, most examples show their wear here and some have lost the caseback detailing completely.
The 8171 is close to our hearts here at Hodinkee. Ben (Clymer) went very in-depth on the reference back in 2019 for Vol. 4 of the Hodinkee Magazine, waxing poetic on the importance of the perfect fake watches and the “elite club” that is owning a Padellone. Speaking for myself, I keep a keen eye on the reference both at auction and via dealers. In my memory, this particular is among the best condition examples to have surfaced for sale in quite some time.
