Important Collector's Watches, Pocket...
Geneva, Nov 11, 2007
LOT 258
Ref. 1019 Milgauss Rolex, ?Oyster Perpetual, Milgauss, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified?, Case No. 2433374, Ref. 1019. Made in 1970. Very fine and rare, anti-magnetic, water-resistant, center seconds, self-winding, stainless steel wristwatch with a stainless steel Rolex Oyster bracelet.
CHF 22,000 - 27,000
EUR 13,000 - 16,000 / USD 18,000 - 23,000
Sold: CHF 42,480
C. Three-body, polished and brushed, screwed-down case back and crown, inclined bezel, soft iron gilt metal antimagnetic protecting cap forming a Faraday cage. D. Brushed silver over soft iron with luminous steel baton indexes, outer minute/seconds divisions, ?Milgauss? in red. Luminous tapered steel baton hands and red-tipped center seconds hand. M. Cal. 1580, rhodiumplated, 26 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 5 positions and temperature, shock absorber, self-compensating free-sprung white metal Breguet balance spring, Microstella regulating screws. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 38 mm. Thickness 12 mm. From ?The Collection?
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 2 |
Very good |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 2-01 |
Very good HANDS Original |
Notes
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.
Similar watches are illustrated in ?Rolex, Collecting Modern And Vintage Wristwatches?, by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Guido Mondani Editore, 2006, vol I. pp. 402 to 405, and vol. II, pp. 16 -17.