Rolex's modern dress watch — a slim gold 1908 that replaced the Cellini line and, unusually, shows its movement.
Introduced
2023
Family
1908
Current ref.
52509
Calibre
7140
The 1908 is Rolex's bid for the classic dress-watch buyer: thin, restrained, and precious-metal only, with a fluted bezel, slim lugs, and a small-seconds sub-dial. It sits apart from the sports line and replaced the Cellini collection, which Rolex retired.
Its most talked-about feature is the display caseback — the first on a current production Rolex — revealing the new calibre 7140 and its Syloxi hairspring.
History
For years Rolex's dress watches wore the Cellini name. In 2023 the brand replaced that line with the Perpetual 1908, repositioning its formal offering under the “1908” banner that marks the registration of the Rolex name.
The 1908 debuted the calibre 7140, a slim automatic with a Syloxi silicon hairspring, shown off through Rolex's first modern see-through caseback.
Reference table
A selective map of the references collectors ask about most — not every variant, but the ones that anchor the line.
| Reference | Years | Variant | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50509 | 2023–present | White gold | Perpetual 1908, intense black or white dial |
| 52509 | 2023–present | White gold | Current 1908 reference, calibre 7140 |
| 52508 | 2023–present | Yellow gold | Yellow-gold Perpetual 1908 |
| 52506 | 2024–present | Platinum | Platinum 1908 with rice-grain motif |
Years are approximate production windows. Verify the reference and serial against the watch in hand before relying on any figure.
In Naples
Naples is a settled, well-travelled collector town, and the Perpetual 1908 fits a Gulf-coast life of flights, boats, and Fifth Avenue South dinners. We are a reference, not a dealer — this is context for buyers, not a storefront.
Perpetual 1908 FAQ
The Perpetual 1908, launched in 2023, replaced the Cellini as Rolex's dress-watch line. It carries a more formal, classical design and the “1908” name marking the registration of the Rolex trademark.
Yes — unusually for Rolex. The 1908 is the first current production model with a see-through sapphire caseback, showing the calibre 7140 movement. Most Rolexes have solid casebacks.
The Perpetual 1908 is precious-metal only: yellow gold, white gold, and platinum. Like the Day-Date, it is not offered in steel.