Are all Rolex equal? Well, some models are more popular than others but a well-documented global shortage of stainless-steel models means that the smart collector is exploring other, thought to be less popular, models the Rolex Milgauss is firmly in their sights. While many people are waiting it out for a Daytona or Submariner, it could pay to find out more about Rolex Milgauss for sale.
Rolex as a brand continues to hold its value. That is underestimating Rolex’s performance. Pretty much every Rolex model will sell for a greater pre-owned value than a new Rolex – that includes the Milgauss – but what is it about this model that has seemingly slipped under the radar. Is it that we don’t appreciate what we don’t know? Is the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Milgauss men’s watch a backstory that’s just waiting to be heard?
What Is the Rolex Milgauss?
Sometimes known as one of the ‘Forgotten Rolexes’, the Rolex Milgauss was released in 1956. It was a busy time for the brand, with launches for the Explorer, Submariner, the Day-Date the GMT-Master preceding the Milgauss. Did it simply get lost in the noise?
The Rolex Milgauss is remarkable for its crossover into the world of science. While Europe was beginning to fully emerge from the horror of World War II, attentions turned to technological scientific developments – but that made life very difficult for certain professionals. Working with strong magnets magnetic fields made it impossible for some engineers technicians to identify watches that could withstand the magnetism. It might seem like a niche problem, but it’s one that Rolex focused on.
The Milgauss was developed to withstand magnetic interference from (up to) 1,000 gauss, the unit of magnetic flux density. The Mil- relates to the 1,000 that the watch could withstand taken from the French word for thousand ‘mille’. The Milgauss includes a second, internal case and, with a soft iron dial, creates a Faraday cage within the watch.
A little like a watch build for a superhero, the Milgauss becomes a more interesting proposition. When testing the watch, Rolex turned to CERN, the European particle physics laboratory. It was the start of a beautiful relationship; CERN confirmed the Milgauss’ magnetic resistance Rolex continues to partner CERN by supporting many of its events, including scientific conferences outreach events.
Read our article on How Rolex Survived World War Two.
Spot the Sporty Model
Sales of the Milgauss struggled, despite its sporty appearance. The Rolex Milgauss ref. 6541 ref. 6543 were almost identical to early Submariners, including a rotating black bezel. However, Rolex tweaked the design but without any impact.
If you can find a Rolex Milgauss 1019 for sale, you may want to take a second look. Released in 1960, Rolex pared back the design flair, opting for a three-hand option with a stationary bezel. The Milgauss continued more or less like this until Rolex retired the Milgauss in 1988.
When Chronographs Science Collide(r)
Just under 20 years later, the Milgauss burst back onto the market to commemorate CERN’s completion of the Large Hardon Collider. Changes had been made, with the Milgauss only produced in steel as part of the brand’s Professional Collection.
Leveraging its scientific heritage, the 2007 Milgauss looked felt different. The Rolex Milgauss 116400GV had a black dial a green-tinted sapphire crystal, known as the Glace Verte (GV). The ref. 116400GV is the only time that the brand has ever produced coloured glass it was reported to be so complicates that Rolex hasn’t repeated this.
Colour Me Beautiful
Rolex isn’t known for its bright colours – although some models stand out because of their colouring, such as the Hulk the Kermit – but the Milgauss appears to be something of a colour swatch for Rolex. The Rolex Milgauss Z-Blue arrived in 2014 replaced the typical white dial with an electric blue dial, maintained the green sapphire crystal included a minute track a lightning bolt second hand both in bright orange. Unsurprisingly, the Z-Blue is one of the most brightly coloured Rolex’s around.
Is The Rolex Milgauss a Good Investment?
Genuinely, the Milgauss could be an excellent investment – a good way to circumnavigate the current stainless steel sports watch shortage. Not only has the Milgauss become a good alternative investment but the growth in demand has seen more preowned models come onto the market.
Both the Z-Blue model the older black white models are worth considering the fact that the Milgauss was once discontinued adds to its novel value worth. Not many of certain models were made, with only 150 of the ref. 6543 ever made one fetching 271,500 Swiss Francs at auction in 2017. If you can find a CERN-requested Milgauss from the 1960s, you are really on to something special. Only a very few were made and, at the request of the scientists, these ref. 1019 Milgauss had no luminescence on the hands or indexes at all, to ensure there was no tritium that could have upset sensitive laboratory equipment. Known as the CERN Dials, they are some of the most highly-sought after Milgauss.
