Rolex 19028 Oysterquartz Day-Date "Egyptian"

A checked version of this page, approved on 28 September 2026, was based on this revision.

Day-Date › 19028

The 19028 is the Day-Date Oysterquartz with the pyramid bezel. Underneath, it is the same watch as the 19018: an 18k yellow gold case built around the caliber 5055 quartz movement, the angular integrated-bracelet body Rolex introduced for the Oysterquartz line in 1977. What sets it apart is the finish. In place of the 19018's smooth fluted bezel, the 19028 carries a faceted, stepped bezel in the pattern Rolex catalogued as "Pyramid" or "Clous de Paris," repeated across the matching bracelet centre links. Collectors call it the "Egyptian," and Antiquorum itself uses that title for two catalogued 19028 examples.

The examples documented here are stone-free yellow-gold watches. The pyramid bezel and matching bracelet are the defining differences from the fluted 19018 and 19019; the nickname describes that finish, not a separate movement or case platform.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	19028
family	Day-Date (Oysterquartz)
production	documented examples 1985 through the reference's last appearance in Rolex's own 2001 US retail price list; no confirmed introduction date distinct from the Oysterquartz line's 1977 launch
movement	caliber 5055 quartz — thermocompensated, 11 jewels, 32 kHz; Rolex's technical manual specifies rapid date correction only, while the day changes through hand movement
case	36mm 18k yellow gold, angular integrated Oysterquartz case, about 13mm thick, tonneau-shaped, screw-down back
crystal	sapphire, cyclops lens over the date
bezel	faceted "Pyramid" / Clous de Paris, 18k yellow gold
bracelet	integrated pyramid-link Oysterquartz bracelet, concealed folding clasp
crown	Twinlock screw-down
nickname	"Egyptian" — collector and auction-house shorthand for the pyramid motif, not a Rolex catalogue name
sibling references	19018 (fluted, yellow gold) and 19019 (fluted, white gold) sit below it in the decorated hierarchy; 19038 (pyramid bezel set with diamonds) and 19048 (full diamond bezel and dial) sit above it
predecessor	none directly; a decorated variant of the same Oysterquartz Day-Date platform as the 19018/19019, introduction date undocumented
successor	none; no quartz Day-Date followed

Where it sits in the line

The 2001 US list places the 19028 between the fluted 19018/19019 and the stone-set Day-Date Oysterquartz references. It shares the Oysterquartz case and caliber 5055 with the plain references, then replaces the fluted bezel and standard bracelet centre links with the Pyramid treatment. The 19038 adds diamond hour markers to that bezel; the 19048 and 19148 add more extensive stone setting.

The "Egyptian" name is not unique to the 19028. Phillips used it for a diamond-set 19038 at its Geneva Watch Auction: FIVE in 2017. In the auction record, the name follows the Pyramid case-and-bracelet treatment; it is not a Rolex reference name.

Production outline

Nothing in the documented record dates the 19028's introduction independently of the wider Oysterquartz Day-Date launch in 1977. The auction examples checked here carry case numbers 9,154,024, 9,171,419, 9,174,370, 9,180,259 and 9,723,161; where a house gives a year, it lands at 1985 or 1986. Rolex's 2001 US price list still includes the reference at $18,500, between the fluted 19018 at $16,500 and the diamond-set 19038 at $21,250. The catalogue evidence runs later in some archives: one Oysterquartz reference archive records gold models in the 2003 catalogue but treats a 2001 production stop as probable. That does not establish a separate 19028 end date.

Movement notes

The 19028 runs the same caliber 5055 as the 19018 and 19019: an 11-jewel, 32kHz thermocompensated quartz movement. Rolex's technical information specifies rapid date correction only; the day advances as the hands pass midnight. The auction certificates belong to the listed lots; surviving movements still need individual verification. Nothing about the pyramid case changes the movement inside it. The 19018 entry and the Reference:Movements page carry the fuller caliber history and the reasoning behind Rolex building its own quartz instead of continuing with the Beta 21 consortium movement.

Dial map

Champagne is the default dial, and it turns up in two distinct hour-marker treatments. Some examples carry applied pyramid-shaped gold indexes that echo the bezel and bracelet, with a black radial Roman-numeral minute track running around the outside — the version Antiquorum has photographed on the same watch across two of its sales. Others carry plain applied circular gilt markers with baton quarters, no pyramid shaping on the dial at all, as catalogued by Bonhams on a separate example. The pyramid treatment therefore does not imply pyramid-shaped hour markers on every dial.

Two further dials are documented, each on a single known example. Sotheby's catalogued a silvered dial in Geneva in 2021, on a watch described as the property of a European royal family. Antiquorum catalogued a walnut wood-grain dial in New York in 2012, the burr-grain finish Rolex used across its gold Day-Dates of the period, here behind the pyramid bezel instead of the fluted one it usually accompanies. Day discs follow standard Day-Date practice and were supplied to order in the buyer's language; German ("DIENSTAG") and English both appear on documented examples. Dials of the era carry tritium and the "T SWISS MADE T" line at six.

Walnut wood-grain dial; Antiquorum, case 9,171,419
Silvered dial with French day wheel; Sotheby's, 2021

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The case architecture is identical to the 19018's: a three-body, tonneau-shaped 36mm case, about 13mm thick, with a screw-down back and Twinlock crown, sapphire crystal and a cyclops lens over the date. What changes is the bezel. Where the 19018 and 19019 carry a smooth fluted bezel, the 19028 carries a faceted bezel cut into a grid of small raised pyramids, the pattern Rolex's own documentation and several auction catalogues call "Pyramid" and others render as "Clous de Paris" — two names for the same stepped, light-catching relief. Some catalogued examples also note hooded lugs, a detail not consistently called out across every lot description.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

The bracelet carries the theme through: the same faceted pyramid pattern appears on the centre links, matching the bezel instead of the plain brushed-and-polished links of a fluted Oysterquartz. It is built into the case in the same integrated three-piece-link construction as every Oysterquartz bracelet and closes on a concealed folding clasp — one documented example stamps its clasp "H," though the single-letter code dates the bracelet component, not necessarily the watch head it is currently paired with. Because the pyramid bracelet is a matched part, a 19028 that has lost its original bracelet cannot simply be fitted with a spare fluted-family Oysterquartz bracelet without breaking the design. The cross-family bracelet and clasp detail sits on Reference:Bracelets.

Auction record

Case 9,154,024 — the "Egyptian" example illustrated below — sold at Antiquorum in Geneva in March 2008 for CHF 8,400, resurfaced at Antiquorum Hong Kong in October 2019 and sold for HKD 87,500, and appeared again at Sotheby's New York in 2024 with an estimate of USD 20,000–30,000. The three catalogue appearances trace one physical watch.

Other examples are catalogued without published results. Phillips offered one retailed by Bucherer at its Hong Kong Watch Auction: FIVE in November 2017 against an estimate of HKD 72,000–96,000. Sotheby's catalogued a champagne-dial example in New York in 2019 at USD 15,000–25,000 and a silvered-dial watch from a European royal family in Geneva in 2021 at CHF 12,000–18,000. Bonhams sold a champagne-dial 19028 in London in December 2014 for GBP 6,875 including premium; Antiquorum's walnut-dial example made USD 11,875 in New York in 2012.

Auction photographs and condition reports show why the bracelet and bezel need to be assessed with the individual watch: polishing can soften the Pyramid relief, and a replacement bracelet may not match the case finish. Those observations do not establish a general price rule.

Rolex 19028 with box and Bucherer-signed guarantee dated February 1987 — Case 9,154,024 with its box and a Bucherer-signed guarantee dated February 1987, photographed at its 2019 Antiquorum resale.

date	house	configuration	result
March 2008	Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 301	"Egyptian," champagne dial with pyramid indexes, case 9,154,024	CHF 8,400 (est. CHF 7,000–9,000)
June 2012	Antiquorum, New York, Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces, lot 107	"Egyptian Walnut Dial," case 9,171,419	USD 11,875 (est. USD 10,000–15,000)
December 2014	Bonhams, London, Fine Watches and Wristwatches, lot 158	champagne dial, circular gilt markers, serial 915****	GBP 6,875 inc. premium (est. GBP 5,000–7,000)
November 2017	Phillips, The Hong Kong Watch Auction: FIVE	"Pyramide" bracelet, retailed by Bucherer, case 9,180,259	est. HKD 72,000–96,000; result not published
2019	Sotheby's, New York, Important Watches, lot 98	champagne dial, case 9,174,370, c.1986	est. USD 15,000–25,000; result not published
October 2019	Antiquorum, Hong Kong, lot 334	same watch as the 2008 Geneva lot, case 9,154,024, full set	HKD 87,500 (est. HKD 64,000–80,000)
2021	Sotheby's, Geneva, Important Watches	silvered dial, case 9,723,161, "Property of a European Royal Family"	est. CHF 12,000–18,000; result not published
2024	Sotheby's, New York, Important Watches	same watch as the 2008/2019 lots, case 9,154,024	est. USD 20,000–30,000; result not published

Related references

Day-Date 19018, Oysterquartz President, fluted bezel, yellow gold
Day-Date 19019, Oysterquartz President, fluted bezel, white gold
Day-Date 18038, Cal 3055 President (1977–1988)
Day-Date 18028, 1977–1988
Day-Date 1803, Fluted President (1960–1977)

Gallery

Hero watch
Walnut dial
Silvered dial
Box and papers

Sources