Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Hong Kong,the Ritz Carlton Hotel,harbour Room, 3rd Floor, Nov 25, 2006

LOT 104

Ref. 6541, "Milgauss" Black Dial Rolex, ?Oyster Perpetual, Milgauss, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified?, Ref. 6541. Case No. 72325. Made in 1958. Very fine and rare, antimagnetic, water-resistant, center seconds, self-winding, stainless steel gentleman's wristwatch with ?lightning flash? seconds hand, ?honeycomb? dial and a stainless steel riveted Rolex Oyster bracelet. To be sold without reserve

HKD 120,000 - 150,000

USD 15,000 - 20,000 / EUR 12,000 - 15,000

Sold: HKD 129,800

C. Three-body, polished and brushed, screwed-down case back and crown, revolving graduated black bezel with red arrow at zero (cracked), antimagnetic soft iron protection cap. D. Black soft iron flinqué "honeycomb" with luminous round indexes and steel triangular markers, ?Milgauss? in red. Luminous steel "dauphine? hands, ?lightning flash? seconds hand. M. Cal. 1030, rhodium-plated, 25 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 5 positions and temperature, shock absorber, self-compensating Breguet balance spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 38 mm. Thickness 13 mm. Property of a Japanese Collector


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent

Case: 3-30

Good

Alterations

Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Dial: 2-30-02

Very good

Alterations

HANDS Service hands

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. Rolex