Milgauss GV Stainless Steel / Black

The Milgauss was created in 1956 for scientists and engineers working in environments with strong electromagnetic fields — particle accelerators, power plants, and medical imaging facilities where conventional watches would lose accuracy. The name combines 'mille' (French for thousand) with 'gauss' — the unit of magnetic field strength — to indicate the watch's resistance to 1,000 gauss. The lightning bolt seconds hand, introduced on the modern reference 116400, has become the Milgauss's most distinctive visual element. The watch occupies a unique niche in the Rolex catalogue: a professional instrument designed for a specific scientific purpose, with a personality that is more playful than any other model the brand produces.

The reliability and precision of an ordinary mechanical watch can be affected by a magnetic field of 50 to 100 gauss. But many scientists are exposed to much higher magnetic fields during the course of their work. Rolex’s solution was the Milgauss, created in 1956, the first watch of its kind. Hence the name of the watch, mille being French for thousand. The reference 116400 was introduced in 2007. The black dial model (non-GV) was discontinued in 2013. The Z-Blue version was added in 2014.