ROLEX MILGAUSS HISTORY

Just as Rolex created watches specifically for sportsmen and adventurers, like the Submariner for deep sea divers, Rolex also created watches for professionals, such as scientists. In 1956 Rolex introduced a new model named the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Milgauss, ref. 6451.

The Milgauss was designed as an antimagnetic watch specifically for those who worked in power plants, medical facilities, and research labs.

Before Rolex released the Milgauss, scientists and other like professionals had a serious problem; an electromagnetic field greater than 50 to 100 gauss would greatly disrupt the timing of a watch. Therefore, they either had to deal with a dysfunctional timepiece, or simply not wear a watch. However, the release of the Milgauss changed that.

Tested in the 1950s by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the world’s pre-eminent particle physics laboratory, it was determined that the Milgauss resisted magnetic fields up to 1,000 gauss.

This was a huge technological advancement, not only for Rolex, but for the scientific community. CERN was one of the first scientific institutions to test the Milgauss, however other scientists and institutions soon followed.

WordPress Lightbox