Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Hong Kong, Apr 23, 2006

LOT 38

Ref. 6541 ?Milgauss Black Dial? Rolex, ?Oyster Perpetual Milgauss, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified?, Ref. 6541. Made in 1958. Very fine and extremely rare, antimagnetic, water-resistant, lightning bolt centerseconds, self-winding, stainless steel gentleman?s wristwatch with black checkerboard dial and a stainless steel Oyster bracelet.

HKD 500,000 - 600,000

USD 65,000 - 80,000 / EUR 55,000 - 65,000

Sold: HKD 637,200

C. Three-body, polished and brushed, screwed-down case back and crown, anti-magnetic soft iron protecting cap. D. Black with luminous round indexes and steel triangular indexes. Luminous steel ?Dauphine? hands. M. Cal. 1066, rhodium plated, 25 jewels, straight line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to temperatures and 5 positions, shock absorber, self-compensating Breguet balance-spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 38 mm. Thickness 13 mm. Approx. overall length 180 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-01

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

Production of this reference started in the 1950s. Milgauss The name 'Milgauss', combines 'Mil', meaning (a thousand), and 'Gauss', for the unit of measure of magnetism. A normal movement can withstand up to 70-80 Gauss; over that its working order is compromised. Most good watches resist magnetic fields of 60 to 70 Gauss, but the 'Milgauss' keeps its astounding precision in magnetic fields up to 1000 Gauss. Yet with its dial, ring and the cover of its movement in soft iron forming a Faraday cage, Rolex created a model which brilliantly solved the problem. Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777 - 1855) German astronomer, mathematician and physicist. Author of important works on celestial mechanics, geodesy, magnetism, electromagnetism and optics. Michael Faraday (1791-1867) English chemist and physicist, known for his pioneering experiments in electricity and magnetism. Many of his concepts, derived directly from experiments, such as lines of magnetic force, have become common ideas in modern physics. Gauss A magnetic induction unit, symbol g in the C.G.S. system.