Ref. CK 2914 was launched in 1957. The second in the famous Omega ?Master? trilogy of watches, the ?Railmaster? was aimed at professionals who worked near magnetic fields. The name ?Railmaster? was chosen to reflect Omega?s longstanding relationship with the railways. Indeed, in the early days of train travel, the high degree of precision achieved by Omega?s watches led to their being preferred by many of the world?s railways. By the 1950?s railways were being converted to electricity, and the large electromagnetic motors used in locomotives created a new set of problems for watches - that of stray magnetic fields, which rendered most watches useless. The movement of the ?Railmaster? is encased by a mu-metal cage that protects the movement to 1000 Gauss. Most ?anti-magnetic? watches are only rated to 60-80 Gauss and are therefore only suitable for resistance to slightly above normal magnetic fields. Problems due to strong magnetic fields are also encountered in laboratories, power plants, and hospitals. The ?Railmaster? was the second wristwatch to achieve a level of resistance to 1000 Gauss. Launched in 1957, it followed the IWC Ingenieur by two years and preceded the Rolex Milgauss by one year. When launched, the Milgauss was only rated to 800 Gauss, despite the name implying that it was safe to 1000 Gauss. It is interesting that when Rolex redesigned the Milgauss in the 1960's, it more closely resembled the ?Railmaster? than its predecessor. Other companies at the same period, such as Patek Philippe, released ?anti-magnetic? watches. These, however, rarely exceeded a level of resistance to 500 Gauss. They were anti-magnetic due to the beryllium balance and pallet fork combined with an invar balance spring and an ?anti-magnetic dust cap?. The problem with this is that beryllium contains a small amount of iron in its alloy and is therefore susceptible to magnetism at a certain point. This is also true of the balance spring, which, once magnetized, becomes irregular in shape and duration of pulsation, due to the coils sticking together. The solution chosen for the ?Railmaster? was to use a non-magnetic movement in conjunction with a double case, the outer in stainless steel and the inner in mu-metal, a non-magnetic material that ?deflects? the magnetic field. The theory behind this is quite brilliant in its simplicity: in much the same way a compass in an iron box does not work as it is shielded from magnetic fields, the movement of the watch continues to work due to the same phenomenon. Similar to a Faraday cage, which conducts stray static charges away from sensitive electronic equipment, the cage in the watch conducts stray magnetic fields away from the movement of the watch. For example, an 8000 Gauss magnet, such as those used in the motor of a modern high-speed train, has a stray magnetic field of 500 Gauss at 6 feet, thus any normal watch will stop functioning properly due to the movement becoming magnetized. The ?Railmaster? watch was revolutionary at the time of its creation, due in no small part to the use of mu-metal. This material, which today is commonly used in a multitude of anti-magnetic housings, was then almost unheard-of, and on the cutting edge of technology.