Entrepreneur Marco Bizzarri spotted wearing a Rolex

At Milan Fashion Week 2015, Gucci President and CEO Marco Bizzarri appeared with one of the most quietly extraordinary vintage Rolex references ever made strapped to his wrist: the Rolex Perpetual Precision 'Padellone' ref. 8171 in stainless steel, fitted on a period-correct link bracelet. It was a subdued flex — the kind only seasoned collectors notice.

The Rolex ref. 8171 is a large-cased, non-Oyster wristwatch produced between approximately 1948 and 1952. Its Italian nickname 'Padellone' — roughly translating to 'big frying pan' — refers to the watch's substantial dial, which carries a triple calendar complication: date, day, and month displayed through apertures, paired with a moonphase indicator at six o'clock. The movement inside is the calibre A296, a manually wound Rolex-signed ebauche with a sector-shaped rotor in some automatic variants, though the 8171 ran manual-wind. The case, notably, is not an Oyster — it lacks the screw-back and crown-seal system that defines most Rolex sport references, making it more dress-oriented and considerably more fragile in terms of survival rates.

From a collector standpoint, the ref. 8171 occupies rarefied air. Rolex produced moonphase wristwatches in only three references: the non-Oyster ref. 8171, its screw-back Oyster sibling the ref. 6062, and in the modern era the Cellini Moonphase. Total production of the ref. 8171 across all dial variants — pink gold, yellow gold, and stainless steel — is estimated at just a few hundred pieces. The steel versions are the scarcest and most demanded at auction, where examples have commanded prices well into six figures. Dials came in multiple configurations, including rare 'black lacquer' and 'champagne' versions, each adding further nuance to an already complex collecting landscape.

Marco Bizzarri, who led Gucci through its most commercially transformative decade under Alessandro Michele's creative direction, is a known watch enthusiast. His choice of the ref. 8171 over any number of flashier collectibles signals a collector who researches deeply and buys on historical merit rather than market heat.

On the current secondary market, steel Rolex ref. 8171 examples in honest, unpolished condition regularly appear at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips, typically fetching between $150,000 and $350,000 depending on dial condition and provenance. No official retail price exists — Rolex discontinued the reference over seventy years ago.