To understand the Milgauss, one must start with Hans Wilsdorf, who founded Rolex in London in 1905 and moved it to Geneva in 1919 with a singular obsession: to prove that a wristwatch could be as precise and robust as a pocket watch. The waterproof Oyster case followed in 1926, and the Perpetual rotor in 1931.
In the 1950s, that philosophy gave life to "tool" watches: the Explorer for those scaling heights, the Submariner for divers, and the GMT-Master for pilots. The Milgauss, introduced in 1956 and developed in collaboration with scientists at CERN in Geneva, was the answer for those working near intense magnetic fields.
Discontinued at the end of the 1980s, the model returned in 2007 with the 116400, the same year the LHC was completed, featuring a Parachrom hairspring and a green crystal. It left the catalog in 2023, and the 116400GV remains the version that best tells the story of the Maison's most curious side.
Few Rolexes are born from a problem rather than a desire. The Milgauss is one of these: a watch designed to continue functioning where others stop, and one that, over time, has become the most eccentric in the Maison’s entire catalog.
This example is the most recognizable and sought-after version of the 116400 reference, the GV. The black dial features alternating white and orange luminescent indices, with a minute track in the same orange, and the "Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified" inscription at the bottom. Above all is the green sapphire crystal: the only tinted crystal ever fitted by Rolex on a production watch, the result of a process the Maison has never replicated on other models. Providing the signature touch is the orange lightning-bolt seconds hand, a direct reference to the first Milgauss from 1956.
The 904L steel case measures 40 mm and features a smooth bezel, Twinlock crown, and water resistance up to 100 meters. The solid case back bears the alternating "Rolex Oyster Milgauss" engraving with crowns, while the steel Oyster bracelet completes a sober yet unmistakable design. Beating inside is the caliber 3131, an automatic, chronometer-certified movement with a blue Parachrom hairspring made of a paramagnetic alloy and an internal soft-iron Faraday cage that protects the mechanism up to 1,000 gauss, from which the name is derived. The power reserve is approximately 48 hours.
The piece, which can be dated by its serial number (V) to around 2009, is accompanied by its original international Rolex warranty, bearing the reference 116400GV and serial number V615556, preserved with the original handwritten notation "Milgauss nero verde".
