Ref. 1019 Production of this reference started in 1966. With its special dial, ring and cover of its movement in soft iron forming a Faraday cage, Rolex improved on its model that brilliantly solved the problem of decreased precision due to high magnetic fields. The ref 1019 Milgauss replaced the ref. 6541. The watch came with an aluminium dial in either natural metal (present lot) or black. On the first version, the hands were made of an antimagnetic alloy, and had an angled profile. The dial featured metal baton markers that were filled with luminous material. In another version of the ref. 1019, the metal baton hands were filled with black paint instead of the luminous material. The two versions of the ref. 1019 were available simultaneously.
Similar watches are illustratced in ?1908-2008, 100th anniversary of Rolex? by Franca and Guido Mondani, pp. 120-124.
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.