103rd Auction
2020/11/7
Lot 282
Rolex, Swiss, "Oyster Perpetual Milgauss Superlative Chronometer officially certified", Movement No. M210080, Case No. 2016000, Ref. 1019, Cal. 1580, 38 mm, circa 1968
A rare vintage antimagnetic automatic wristwatch
Case: steel, screw back ref. 1019 III/68, antimagnetic protection cap, screwed "Twinlock" winding crown, riveted steel US "Oyster" bracelet, 6/4 bracelet elements, clasp dated 76, bracelet length 125 mm, total length 170 mm. Dial: original service dial, black, luminous indexes (Super-LumiNova), original early hand set.
Telecommunications, aviation and aerospace industries, medical imaging, research facilities – to name but a few of the many sectors where scientists, engineers and technicians are exposed to strong magnetic fields on a regular basis. The Oyster Perpetual Milgauss has been purpose-built for these environments. Its name is a combination of "mil" (a thousand), and "gauss", (the unit of magnetic flux density, named after the German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss), and the wristwatch is resistant to a magnetic flux density of 1,000 gauss or tesla. Rolex uses its own parachrome spring and an escapement wheel made of a new paramagnetic material in the Milgauss. Ferromagnetic alloys provide the magnetic shielding protecting the movement.
The Milgauss was mostly sold for its unusual design – not many people needed a watch with all those functions the Milgauss provided. Thus the watch was never a big seller and Rolex discontinued the production in 1986. However, in 2007 Rolex relaunched the Milgauss in three different styles.
A rare vintage antimagnetic automatic wristwatch
Case: steel, screw back ref. 1019 III/68, antimagnetic protection cap, screwed "Twinlock" winding crown, riveted steel US "Oyster" bracelet, 6/4 bracelet elements, clasp dated 76, bracelet length 125 mm, total length 170 mm. Dial: original service dial, black, luminous indexes (Super-LumiNova), original early hand set.
Telecommunications, aviation and aerospace industries, medical imaging, research facilities – to name but a few of the many sectors where scientists, engineers and technicians are exposed to strong magnetic fields on a regular basis. The Oyster Perpetual Milgauss has been purpose-built for these environments. Its name is a combination of "mil" (a thousand), and "gauss", (the unit of magnetic flux density, named after the German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss), and the wristwatch is resistant to a magnetic flux density of 1,000 gauss or tesla. Rolex uses its own parachrome spring and an escapement wheel made of a new paramagnetic material in the Milgauss. Ferromagnetic alloys provide the magnetic shielding protecting the movement.
The Milgauss was mostly sold for its unusual design – not many people needed a watch with all those functions the Milgauss provided. Thus the watch was never a big seller and Rolex discontinued the production in 1986. However, in 2007 Rolex relaunched the Milgauss in three different styles.
estimated
22.000—28.000 €
Price realized
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