Rolex Lady-Datejust Guide: References, Specs, Prices | Ultimate Watch
The Rolex Lady-Datejust is the small-case, chronometer-certified date watch that Rolex has built continuously since 1957. It takes everything that made the men's Datejust the reference-point dress watch, the fluted bezel, the Cyclops date lens at 3 o'clock, the self-winding Perpetual movement, and puts it into a case scaled for a smaller wrist. When it arrived in 1957 it was the first women's wristwatch to carry official COSC chronometer certification, which at the time was a big deal: precision watches with a date complication were almost entirely a men's category. Today the line lives in a 28mm case with the caliber 2236 inside, and the older 26mm generations trade every day in the pre-owned market. We buy and sell Lady-Datejusts constantly at our counter on 19 West 47th Street; it is one of the most liquid women's watches in the world, which is exactly why the details of reference, caliber, metal, and bracelet matter so much to what a piece is actually worth.
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Specifications
History
Iconic References
Buying Guide
Pricing & Market Data
Comparisons
Cultural Significance
Collector's Lore
The Lady-Datejust is where a lot of people learn that Rolex has always been a spec company first. In 1957 the selling point was not the diamonds, it was the COSC certificate on a women's watch, which nobody else was doing at that scale. Collectors chase the stone dials from the four-digit era, turquoise, lapis, coral, and other hardstone dials that Rolex fitted to 6917 and later references, because those originals are increasingly hard to find unrefinished and command strong premiums. On the two-tone 69173, the tell of a good example is a Jubilee bracelet that has not stretched into a loose, floppy fit, since that hollow-link bracelet is the first thing to wear on a 30-year-old watch. And the quiet insider move on the current line is the 279174: a steel case with a white gold fluted bezel gives you the fluted-bezel look that people associate with solid gold, at a fraction of the price. We see all of it cross the counter on 47th Street, and the watches that hold their value are always the honest, original, unmolested ones.
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