Feature: What’s The Most Hated Rolex, And Why?
When people were speculating about what Rolex might unveil at Watches & Wonders 2022, the name of a certain model cropped up more than most. Some thought it might be subjected to another design overhaul—the third in its rather patchy existence—while others thought it might undergo a few Rolex-style micro-tweaks.
Either way, the Milgauss was the bookie’s favourite for some kind of attention.
In the end, the Milgauss didn’t feature at Watches & Wonders at all, but the predictions seem to have been wishful thinking for many. And that’s because the current Milgauss line-up is probably the brand’s least loved by die-hard Rolex fans.
Spare a thought for the poor Milgauss. Despite being created the same year as the Submariner it enjoys none of the kudos or cool factor enjoyed by either that watch or the Daytona, which arrived a few years later.
It also lacks the practical, everyday functions of a GMT, Day-Date or Datejust. And even the humble time-only Oyster Perpetual trumps it for understated, classic good looks. Most people would even plump for a Yachtmaster II, whose complication is a weirdly niche Regatta countdown timer, ahead of a Milgauss.
The contemporary Milgauss, reference 116400GV, with electric-blue dial
With its kooky colour combinations and a cartoonish lightning-bolt seconds hand, the modern Milgauss is, at least on the surface, a rather un-Rolex Rolex. A brash, nouveau-riche ponce given serious side-eye by its more refined, aristocratic brethren.
But isn’t that a little unfair on a watch that has boasted solid tool-watch chops from the get-go?
The Scientist’s Watch
The Milgauss hasn’t always been tarted up in the colours of a 1960s comic-book superhero. When it first came out in 1954 it looked every inch the robust, built-for-purpose tool watch.
Named after the French word mille, meaning one thousand, and gauss, a measurement used to denote the density of magnetic fields, it was made for those regularly exposed to high magnetic fields—from engineers to power plant technicians.
As its name suggests, it was guaranteed to withstand up to 1,000 gauss, but in reality it was able to take much more than that, thanks to a calibre made with anti-magnetic components and a soft-iron inner case. Rolex has always listened to the needs of professionals who wore its watches on the job, adapting them accordingly. And it did this with some versions of the Milgauss, swapping the luminescent tritium paint on its hands and markers for normal black paint so that it didn’t interfere with scientists’ radiation measurements.
The first Milgauss was the reference 6541, launched in 1954. Image courtesy of Phillips
As you can see, the early Milgauss models (references 6541 and 6543) shared the utilitarian appearance of the Submariner, featuring a rotating black bezel and black dial with similar hour markers, as well as an oyster bracelet. A lightning-bolt seconds hand with a red triangle tip (faded on the watch above) was introduced to late-1950s models.
Despite looking like a Submariner, though, the Milgauss wasn’t anywhere near as popular, probably because its tool function was so niche and unlikely to ever be tested unless you really did work in close proximity to strong magnetic fields.
In contrast, even if you never went scuba-diving, you’d find the Submariner appealing as something you could wear in the shower or swimming pool.
Second Generation
In the early 1960s, Rolex gave the Milgauss a spartan make-over—more like a make-under!—stripping away the rotating bezel, giving it baton-style hands and markers, and changing the movement. It even ditched the lightning-bolt seconds hand. This new version went by the reference 1019.
The pared-down 1019 was launched in the early 1960s. Image courtesy of Bonhams
As with its Explorer II model, Rolex restricted the dials to a choice of either black or white. But it was met with indifference. It’s not that people hated it. It just lacked the X-factor of other Rolex models, and it was eventually withdrawn from the brand’s catalogue circa 1986, lying dormant until the quartz crisis had blown over and mechanical watches were once again de rigueur .
Lightning Strikes Twice
When the Milgauss was eventually relaunched in 2007 the luxury watch world was a very different place to when it quietly shuffled off to lie in limbo two decades earlier.
Fledgling brands like Richard Mille, Alain Silberstein and Franck Muller had injected a bit of colour into the rather sombre world of luxury mechanical watches, and serious collectors were no longer elbow-patched old men hanging around dusty auction houses. Big and brash designs were everywhere, and mega-rich footballers were flexing their Hublots.
If ever Rolex was going to be a bit gung-ho with its colour scheme—taking a page out of its sibling Tudor’s book, perhaps—and bring back that distinctive seconds hand, this was the time to do it.
The Milgauss for the new Millennium, then, the reference 116400, saw the surprising return of the lightning bolt—now a fiery orange colour—and a new calibre, the 3131, which still powers the model today. At 40mm, it was also a couple of millimetres bigger than the 1950s original, reflecting modern trends.
The Milgauss was relaunched in 2007 with the lightning-bolt seconds hand getting the full Tango treatment!
There have been four dial variations so far, from the inaugural offering with a white-dial (now discontinued) to the latest models in the line-up, including the eye-watering Grande Verde with electric-blue dial beneath green-tinted sapphire glass (exclusive to the Milgauss).
Grumbling Die-hards
The colour scheme is undoubtedly the reason it gets so much flack. This was once a serious watch worn by hard-hat-wearing boffins doing serious scientific work. And yet, despite it having all the up-to-date signature Rolex specs on the inside—from Parachrom hairspring to the anti-magnetic shield and COSC certification—it’s been dressed up for a night out dancing at Studio 54.
Aesthetically at least, the Milgauss is a rare Rolex outlier, perhaps a watch that appeals to a more youthful clientele and alienates the older, die-hard fans, who, ironically, are as guilty as anyone of grumbling about Rolex’s notorious conservatism.
To that latter group, Rolex would be well within its rights to say: ‘Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it…’
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