JoJo35 Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 If you take a mechanical watch into a strong magnetic field, some of the parts in the movement become magnetized which causes problems; typically the watch will start to run quite fast and require demagnetization. The hairspring, made of an alloy called Nivarox, is particularly susceptible. A watch is normally considered "antimagnetic" (DIN 8309) if it can ignore 4,800 A/m. This works out to about 60 gauss, or 6% of what the new Rolex is rated for. Rolex achieved the superior rating of the Milgauss by encasing the movement in soft iron, which is known as a Faraday cage. They also introduced a new hairspring material, Parachrom-Blu, which is unaffected by magnetism. Quite an achievement! The Milgauss model has an interesting history. It was introduced in 1954 for people who worked in environments with strong magnetic fields: power plants, research labs, etc. As you might suspect, that's a pretty small market, further crowded by the IWC Ingenieur, the Patek Philippe Amagnetic, and the Omega Railmaster, all of which had similar magnetic resistance. The Milgauss was the slowest seller in the Rolex lineup, and was sold for about 20 years before being removed from their catalog. The case of the gen Milgauss pictured below features the desirable smooth bezel, and polished center links on the Oyster bracelet. The bracelet also features the ingenious new Easylink extension system, permitting an instantaneous small adjustment to the bracelet circumference - most useful when a temperature change causes the wearer's wrist to expand. Case is water resistant to 100 meters with a twin-lock crown. The movement is the automatic winding Rolex Caliber 3131 with the soft iron Faraday Cage construction and the brand new blue Parachrom hairspring which is insensitive to magnetic forces and also more shock resistant than previous hairsprings. Rolex really makes phenomenal movements, which are extremely rugged, serviceable and accurate. This movement is a C.O.S.C. Certified Chronometer. The dial is very well done... color is black, with luminous hour markers, and "MILGAUSS" in orange letters. The three o'clock, six o'clock and nine o'clock markers are orange colored. The orange seconds hand is a lightening bolt, which is a design throwback to the first Milgauss reference 6541. There are also orange arabic numerals at the periphery of the dial at the five minute positions. The green sapphire crystal enhances the luminosity of the dial in dark lighting. Here's some pics, enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Beautiful! That green sapphy is really something. Out of curiosity- Is your's without the etch at 6:00? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justasgood Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Stunning....just another reason to be jealous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Thanks for the compliments Ubi and Justasgood I just checked the crystal with a loupe, and no, the crystal does not have the etched crown @ 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefcook Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Thanks for the compliments Ubi and Justasgood I just checked the crystal with a loupe, and no, the crystal does not have the etched crown @ 6 Yep, the etched crown is the big flaw on the rep GV... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertk Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Yep, the etched crown is the big flaw on the rep GV... Flaw? you'd need a loupe to see it? I've put mine against the real deal and from an "eyeballing" point of view it is pretty spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Flaw? you'd need a loupe to see it? I've put mine against the real deal and from an "eyeballing" point of view it is pretty spot on. Even on gens that have this feature, the whole idea is not being able to see it. Thus, if you can see it without a loupe on your rep milgauss, that's a big error; especially if the gen doesn't even an etched crown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 For the green sapphire, I believe it was determined that the crown etch at 6:00 was the contributing cause for crystals breaking and hence was omitted. That's why the newer releases and early pieces with crystals replaced are sans etch All speaking in temrs of gen, of course... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefcook Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Flaw? you'd need a loupe to see it? I've put mine against the real deal and from an "eyeballing" point of view it is pretty spot on. On the most reps I can see the loupe with my bare eye and therefore call the etch a flaw Same with both rep milgauss I've seen yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 What a beauty! Thanks for sharing. One question. Do the orange markers glow? I looked at a gen, but wasn't able to see if they did glow... and the salesman kinda freaked out when I tried to get get some darkness by putting the watch under my jacket to check! LOL! We tried to cover the dial with out hands, but that did not work. How about a gen group shot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Does anybody know if the rep farraday case is in fact effective to the same or similar degree to resist magnetization as the gen?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 What a beauty! Thanks for sharing. One question. Do the orange markers glow? I looked at a gen, but wasn't able to see if they did glow... and the salesman kinda freaked out when I tried to get get some darkness by putting the watch under my jacket to check! LOL! We tried to cover the dial with out hands, but that did not work. How about a gen group shot? Stilty, you would love the lume on this watch. The white makers glow green, and the orange markers glow blue It's amazing how the worldwide economy has effected gen prices. Check out this FS thread, it's not even two years ago: http://forums.watchnet.com/index.php?t=tre...70731&rid=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazglenn3 Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 I love this watch! I bought a 21J version from Stan. It doesn't have the anti-magnetic cover in it, but also doesn't have the etched crown. I just got a high-beat movement in to swap into the watch. I wish the rep lume glowed different colors like the gen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ylfig Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 It was 14500 then, what did you pay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazglenn3 Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 Sure hope he didn't pay $14,500 for one of those. They can be had brand new for $5000 now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Does anybody know if the rep farraday case is in fact effective to the same or similar degree to resist magnetization as the gen?? I doubt the rep makers are skilled at building real faraday cases/cages. It may filter ONE type of wavelength. Also most faraday installations require grounding. A Faraday cage/case will not shield its contents from static magnetic fields. However, rapidly-changing magnetic fields create electric fields. The conductors cancel the electric fields and therefore the changing magnetic fields as well. The wall materials' thickness and skin depth set the frequency at which the cage/case suppresses electromagnetic fields. Static or slowly-changing magnetic fields penetrate the case/cage; rapidly-changing ones do not. Long story short, you are probably safe from radio waves, but not an old school magnet. The rep cases about as good as the shielding on a coax cable used to connect your cable box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted May 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Sure hope he didn't pay $14,500 for one of those. They can be had brand new for $5000 now. A brand new LV Milgauss for 5k? ...try again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pre V Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 The lowest priced brand new Milgauss I have seen in the past 2 months was around USD $ 6000-6200. This is indeed a classical modern Rolex, gotta love the green sapphire. One of those pieces that is on my shopping list for quite sometime. Been observing the prices and hopefully will be able to snag one up. Wear this Gaussy in good health and spirits JJ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member X Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Thanks for the info in this post - I'd wondered why it was green tinted sapphire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierre22 Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Does anybody know if the rep farraday case is in fact effective to the same or similar degree to resist magnetization as the gen?? Just to clarify that the soft irons cover is not a faraday cage. Its use is to protect from magnetic (static) field where a faraday cage protect electromagnetic (varying) field’s which should not pose problems for a mechanical watch. The cover need to be made from a highly permeable material to magnetic field so the magnetic forces lines go through the cover instead of the movement. Like the current in a circuit goes trough the path with less resistance. So if the material is the right type then the rep protection should be the same but then I doubt the movement will be as magnetic proof as the gen as some magnetic field still goes trough the protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Long story short, you are probably safe from radio waves, but not an old school magnet. The rep cases about as good as the shielding on a coax cable used to connect your cable box. Thanks! Just to clarify that the soft irons cover is not a faraday cage. Its use is to protect from magnetic (static) field where a faraday cage protect electromagnetic (varying) field Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazglenn3 Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 A brand new LV Milgauss for 5k? ...try again Okay, $6000... http://cgi.ebay.com/ROLEX-MILGAUSS-GREEN-C...93%3A1|294%3A50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Okay, $6000... hmmmm... still some time to go on this auction and lots of room for snipers. Anyway, would you buy from some unknown ebay seller with ZERO feedback when it comes to watches, or from a reputable AD and have full paperwork and a warranty? Keep in mind that there still is value in where you buy something. [censored], believe it or not, there is value in the country code on your papers? And it does look a lot cooler when your papers have a "5th Avenue NYC" dealer stamp as opposed to say.... Bellis Fair Mall! Or papers filled out with someone else's name from Irvine, CA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 JoJo, when you refer to the micro adjustment on the bracelet do you mean like the DSSD of like a smaller divers extention, i picked one of these up from Vikkyrob at the GTG with a gen ETA and it has the crown etched @6 so minus 1 point, only the white markers glow minus another, and it has a small divers type extention is that how your extention works? Apart from that the wife loves it, she has been on about one for a wehile but always said not to buy here another watch, but when she had it in her hand at the GTG it was hard for here to say no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asciwhite Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 I love this watch! I bought a 21J version from Stan. It doesn't have the anti-magnetic cover in it, but also doesn't have the etched crown. I just got a high-beat movement in to swap into the watch. I wish the rep lume glowed different colors like the gen! Wondering.... Is that a straightforward swap? Or do you need new hands etc? Having one 21j on the way myself I would like to swap to a clone 2836-2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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