All about Rolex Milgauss

The special feature of the Milgauss is the protection against magnetism by a special balance spiral and a metal sheathing of the movement. The watch had its premiere as early as 1956 under the reference number 6541. At that time, the target group of the Milgauss consisted mainly of scientists and other specialists who were exposed to strong magnetic fields in their profession. Rolex did not have to go a long way: the CERN nuclear research centre, where such conditions prevail, was founded in Geneva in 1954 and began operations in 1957. Rolex is also headquartered in this city.

A unit for the strength of magnetic fields – more precisely for the magnetic flux density – is named after the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. The first Milgauss was designed for a strength of 1000 Gauss and owes its name to this property. Production of the model was temporarily suspended in 1988, but resumed in 2007.

The dial of the Milgauss is available in black, white or blue. On the white dial, the hour indexes are decorated in bright orange. On the black sheet of reference 116400GV, only the indexes at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock are orange, the rest are white. The blue dial shows white indexes throughout. Orange Arabic numerals on the Minuterie are common to the three models. The black dial version of the model with normal sapphire crystal dances out of the row: it has orange rectangular markings on the minuterie at the edge of the dial. As with the Z-Blue, the indices are white throughout.

The most striking feature of the Rolex Milgauss is the double-jagged, always orange second hand. It ends in an arrow-like tip and is reminiscent of a flash. He is the eye-catcher in this otherwise rather restrained and neutrally designed watch.

A Rolex Milgauss with reference number 116400GV and a blue Z-Blue dial costs around 8,400 euros in mint value. Already worn copies are around 7,300 euros. The abbreviation "GV" stands for "Glace Verte" and means the green sapphire crystal. The price of the watch has been rising steadily since the beginning of 2018: If you were able to buy this reference for 6,600 euros in January 2018, you needed more than 7,000 euros a year later. At the end of 2019, The Milgauss Z-Blue broke the 8,000 euro mark. Prices for used watches have also risen by an average of EUR 1,000 over the last two years.

The version with black dial and green sapphire crystal can be found under the same reference number. Plan for an unworn copy about 8,100 euros. A used watch of this model is available for a good 6,800 euros. The value of these milgauss also developed positively recently: in mid-2015, the new price was still below EUR 6,000.

If you are looking for models with normal, non-green shimmering sapphire crystal, you should look for the reference 116400. On the dial, you can choose between a white and a black version. The latter costs around 8,600 euros as good as new, used at around 6,200 euros. At the beginning of 2017, the price of an unworn copy was still around 6,100 euros. The version with a white dial is slightly cheaper and is as good as new at around 8,000 euros. You can buy an already worn copy for just under 6,500 euros.