Rolex
Lady-Datejust 28
279173
The 28 mm two-tone benchmark of Rolex's enduring dress-watch lineage
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Overview
The Rolex Lady-Datejust 28 reference 279173 pairs a 28 mm Oyster case in a combination of Oystersteel and yellow gold with the refined Calibre 2236, Rolex's dedicated ladies' movement. Offered across a broad palette of dials — including champagne, mother-of-pearl, and diamond-set variants — it occupies the heart of Rolex's dress-watch offering for smaller wrist sizes. The reference continues the Lady-Datejust's long-standing role as one of the most recognisable women's watches in the Swiss industry.
History
The Lady-Datejust lineage stretches back to 1957, when Rolex introduced a scaled-down Datejust expressly for women, making it one of the earliest purpose-built luxury dress watches from Geneva. The modern 28 mm generation, to which reference 279173 belongs, was formalised in the mid-2010s, consolidating the case diameter at 28 mm and introducing the Calibre 2236 across the line. The 2236 was a significant development, incorporating a Syloxi silicon hairspring engineered specifically for the movement's dimensions and beat rate. Reference 279173's two-tone Oystersteel and yellow gold construction places it within a combination-material tier that has been a consistent pillar of the Lady-Datejust range throughout its history.
Notable points
- Calibre 2236 features a Syloxi silicon hairspring, offering improved antimagnetic properties and long-term rate stability in a movement sized for the 28 mm case.
- The two-tone Oystersteel and yellow gold case construction is achieved using Rolex's in-house foundry alloys, with the yellow gold produced to the brand's own specifications.
- Dial variety is unusually broad for a single reference, spanning understated champagne lacquer through luminous mother-of-pearl to fully diamond-set options, reflecting the dress-watch positioning.
- At 28 mm, the Oyster case retains full water resistance and the characteristic Twinlock crown system, maintaining tool-watch robustness within a jewellery-scaled form factor.
- The Lady-Datejust is one of the longest-running named references in Rolex's catalogue, giving the 279173 a heritage context that few contemporary women's watches can match.
