ROLEX’S ANTI-MAGNETIC WRISTWATCH
Rolex Milgauss ref. M116400GV-0001 / Credit: Raffi Jewellers
An overlooked feature in today’s wristwatches, anti-magnetism solved a serious problem when it was commercialized in the mid-20th century. For people working near electromagnetic fields (doctors, engineers, researchers etc.), exposure to more than 50 gauss (the equivalent of a refrigerator magnet) would render wearing a watch impossible due to the magnetism’s effect on the movement. To solve this issue, several watch brands started developing anti-magnetic watches. One of them, Rolex, developed a timepiece that has been a leader in the anti-magnetic watch category for over 60 years: the Milgauss.
The name ‘Milgauss’ is derived from “mil”, referring to ‘thousand’, and “Gauss”, the unit of measure for magnetic induction. Its name was a reference to 1000 gauss, which is also the amount of magnetic induction the watch resisted during its first test at CERN in 1956. There is often confusion as to which Rolex Milgauss model was released first; the ref. 6541 is often quoted incorrectly as the first Rolex Milgauss model, released in 1956, but the ref. 6543 actually preceded the ref. 6541 by 2 years. This mix-up is likely due to the rarity of the ref. 6543, since its production was limited to less than 200 pieces between 1954 and 1956. Even Rolex itself considers the ref. 6541 to be the first ‘official’ model. The story goes that in 1956 CERN contacted Rolex to develop a timepiece suitable for its researchers. Rolex tried shielding the movement of the watch inside a soft-iron Faraday cage to deflect the magnetic energy. After some tweaks to the design, the watch successfully fended off 1000 gauss, and the Rolex Milgauss ref. 6541 was born.
Rolex Milgauss ref. 6541 / Credit: Corrado Mattarelli
The Milgauss continues to be produced today, and several Milgausses have gone for impressive sums in recent years. For example, the ‘Tiffany Dial’ Rolex Milgauss ref. 1019 sold by 10pastten.com, or the 1958 ref. 6541 that went for 245 000 CHF at Phillips' Geneva Watch Auction One in 2015. As better-known vintage Rolexes become rarer, collectors have increasingly turned their interests towards models like the Milgauss.
By: Andres Ibarguen