Milguass coming back ??

[rolexjackson]

I am down in AZ visiting family this week went to the Rolex AD in the Scottsdale Fashion square. The SA I was speaking with was very nice, I have to add that i've been in this store MANY times with zero interaction with the sales people. I am usually dressed pretty casual while on vacation so they pay me no mind. The guy told me that he just returned home from Switzerland for factory training. One of the questions they asked him directly was what did he think about the Milgauss. They didn't say for 100% it was coming back but the line of questions they asked about the previous reference made him think that they would be bringing it back. I hope they do I really like that reference especially the Z-Blue.

[TheHulk]

Yeah its soounds like its coming back especially if a SA said so….. THEy KNOW NOTHING

[watchwatcher]

Originally Posted by TheHulk

Yeah its soounds like its coming back especially if a SA said so….. THEy KNOW NOTHING

[kieselguhr]

Will get back to you in approximately 10 months. Fingers crossed, hope it does make a comeback either in a new or vintage inspired iteration. The model has always been my favourite in the Rolex lineup

[L_S_SHOE]

It’ll be back in a more expensive and hard to get form.


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[Harry-57]

Maybe Rolex were trying to sell him a CPO?

[askdanny]

I wrote a story earlier this year about a new Rolex patent filing.

By changing the composition of the balance wheel, Rolex engineers were able to crank up the power to 4 tesla, or 40,000 gauss, before seeing any adverse effects on the timing of the watch.

That could be your new Milgauss ... which would blow the competition out of the water.

Full story: https://coron.et/new-long-reads/rolexs-tesla-challenge




—Danny

[saxo3]

Originally Posted by askdanny

I wrote a story earlier this year about a new Rolex patent filing.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=935529

[Manamana]

Originally Posted by askdanny

I wrote a story earlier this year about a new Rolex patent filing.

By changing the composition of the balance wheel, Rolex engineers were able to crank up the power to 4 tesla, or 40,000 gauss, before seeing any adverse effects on the timing of the watch.

That could be your new Milgauss ... which would blow the competition out of the water.

Full story: https://coron.et/new-long-reads/rolexs-tesla-challenge






—Danny

This will be on all models. No need to reintroduce the Milgauss back as it was an unpopular model, and this new patent needs to be on all Rolex models, and not reserved for one model. Rolex needs to be on par or exceed Omega in this category.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by askdanny

I wrote a story earlier this year about a new Rolex patent filing.

By changing the composition of the balance wheel, Rolex engineers were able to crank up the power to 4 tesla, or 40,000 gauss, before seeing any adverse effects on the timing of the watch.

That could be your new Milgauss ... which would blow the competition out of the water.

Full story: https://coron.et/new-long-reads/rolexs-tesla-challenge




—Danny

Cannot see any point as doubt if anyone would be in or near to anything that puts out that magnetic field.It's the same with the rating on some of the dive watches, max depth rating will never be used by man or superman in water they make them because they can.So more of a brag factor mine is bigger than yours and many buy that factor today.

[BraveBold]

Originally Posted by padi56

Cannot see any point as doubt if anyone would be in or near to anything that puts out that magnetic field.It's the same with the rating on some of the dive watches, max depth rating will never be used by man or superman in water they make them because they can.So more of a brag factor mine is bigger than yours and many buy that factor today.

I respectfully disagree. I need to be cautious with automatic watches around my speakers (hifi speakers), guitar amps and some other powerful household magnets. 20k gauss+…

[Andad]

Originally Posted by BraveBold

I respectfully disagree. I need to be cautious with automatic watches around my speakers (hifi speakers), guitar amps and some other powerful household magnets. 20k gauss+…

Hi,

I agree with Peter.

If you are working around 20K Gauss I don't think I would wear a mechanical watch.
20K+ Gauss is quite high.

On one of my on-line engineering calculators I set up a 90mm od x 30mm id x 30mm thick 50N magnetic ring and came up with this.

[saxo3]

Originally Posted by BraveBold

I need to be cautious with automatic watches around my speakers (hifi speakers), guitar amps and some other powerful household magnets.

Correct. The magnet field, close to the surface of some common household devices, is very high and can magnetize watch movements.

[CarlOver]

Originally Posted by padi56

Cannot see any point as doubt if anyone would be in or near to anything that puts out that magnetic field.It's the same with the rating on some of the dive watches, max depth rating will never be used by man or superman in water they make them because they can.So more of a brag factor mine is bigger than yours and many buy that factor today.

Who dives to the bottom of the Mariana Trench? 3T magnet in MRI is not uncommon. We will see, but I would like one with some funky color and a thinner case.

[msum]

Originally Posted by CarlOver

Who dives to the bottom of the Mariana Trench? 3T magnet in MRI is not uncommon. We will see, but I would like one with some funky color and a thinner case.

Yeah, I suppose it might be useful to have a Rolex with their patented new 4T resistant hairspring and escapement setup… Provided it has a Ti or ceramic or precious metal case and bracelet. Then it should be safe to wear in an MRI (most used for diagnostic purposes aren’t > 3T, at least not in my country).

[padi56]

Originally Posted by CarlOver

Who dives to the bottom of the Mariana Trench? 3T magnet in MRI is not uncommon. We will see, but I would like one with some funky color and a thinner case.

And know one would be allowed to wear any metal object anywhere near a MRI scanner, unless they were completely drain dead, or had no common sense which is sadly lacking today.

[art1810]

That article is quite the find.

According to the article, which is citing a Rolex patent, 'current Rolex watches' that have a Parachrom (CuBe) hairspring, can resist between 22,000 and 25,000 Gauss (2.2T to 2.5T). That is at least 22 times the resistance suggested by the name, Milgauss.

That's any Parachrom Rolex....not just the ref. 116400 Milgauss.

As for the Parachrom Milgauss (ref. 116400), there are technical reason to suspect that it's limits might be even higher when it comes to magnetic resistance. The hypothesis is that the shielding technology, and escapement alloys, used on the ref. 116400 Milgauss, might multiply the already extraordinary effectiveness of the Parachrom hairspring. But hey, unless you can safely access up to 10T fields or more, who knows?

[Nyl]

Originally Posted by art1810

That article is quite the find.

According to the article, which is citing a Rolex patent, 'current Rolex watches' that have a Parachrom (CuBe) hairspring, can resist between 22,000 and 25,000 Gauss (2.2T to 2.5T). That is at least 22 times the resistance suggested by the name, Milgauss.

That's any Parachrom Rolex....not just the ref. 116400 Milgauss.

As for the Parachrom Milgauss (ref. 116400), there are technical reason to suspect that it's limits might be even higher when it comes to magnetic resistance. The hypothesis is that the shielding technology, and escapement alloys, used on the ref. 116400 Milgauss, might multiply the already extraordinary effectiveness of the Parachrom hairspring. But hey, unless you can safely access up to 10T fields or more, who knows?

Parachrom is not a CuBe alloy; parachrom is an alloy of Niobium and Zirconium and it is used for their hairspring.

CuBe is used for the balance wheel. And in the patent, they replace it with an alloy with higher electrical resistivity. In the article, they also say that Rolex is "surprised" by the results. I'd doubt that as these results are purely logical: higher electrical resistivity means lower Eddy currents in a magnetic field = easier to move for the material in a magnetic field.

In the Milgauss, it was a soft iron magnetic shield that protected the movement. However, at very high magnetic fields (2.5T and more), the soft iron is not useful anymore. And in any case, it's better to make the whole movement "magnetic resistant" than using magnetic shields. That's also why I think the Milgauss will unfortunately not come back. This patent will certainly be used for all new movements.

[art1810]

Originally Posted by Nyl

Parachrom is not a CuBe alloy; parachrom is an alloy of Niobium and Zirconium and it is used for their hairspring.

CuBe is used for the balance wheel. And in the patent, they replace it with an alloy with higher electrical resistivity. In the article, they also say that Rolex is "surprised" by the results. I'd doubt that as these results are purely logical: higher electrical resistivity means lower Eddy currents in a magnetic field = easier to move for the material in a magnetic field.

In the Milgauss, it was a soft iron magnetic shield that protected the movement. However, at very high magnetic fields (2.5T and more), the soft iron is not useful anymore. And in any case, it's better to make the whole movement "magnetic resistant" than using magnetic shields. That's also why I think the Milgauss will unfortunately not come back. This patent will certainly be used for all new movements.

Thank you for the correction.

As per your comment it should have been pretty evident that dragging a conductor balance wheel through a strong field would generate eddy currents and magnetic interaction.

A question that I have is whether a magnetic shield would multiply the effect of other anti magnetic technology incorporated into the watch. That is whether a high resistivity balance wheel say, or a Parachrom hairspring, would provide even greater performance if encapsulated within a magnetic shield. Intuitively this would seem to be the case, but in extreme environments such as multi T fields, who knows whether such simple modelling would gave any real world relevance.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Harry-57

Maybe Rolex were trying to sell him a CPO?

[Jackie Daytona]

Interesting based off the patent info. It would be neat to see it comeback. I loved mine and just moved on from it. If I had unlimited space in the watch box it would definitely still be there. Always thought it was a fantastic looking watch.

[Colorado_kid]

Will never happen but if the Milgauss wants to be a “scientist and engineers watch” then a date function and timing bezel would be needed.

Lab notes always start with the date. K, the timing bezel may not be that important but good to know how much time you have left on your lunch break!


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[Lol-x]

Originally Posted by Colorado_kid

Will never happen but if the Milgauss wants to be a “scientist and engineers watch” then a date function and timing bezel would be needed.

Lab notes always start with the date. K, the timing bezel may not be that important but good to know how much time you have left on your lunch break!

I would never say never and the new patent application by Rolex is very interesting and where there's fuel there may be fire.

However, I do very much agree with you about the need for a date feature, except that feature would provide for an aperture for the magnetic field to enter the movement. But on the other hand, IWC has so called antimagnetic watches with date windows...

[Lu..]

Originally Posted by colorado_kid

will never happen but if the milgauss wants to be a “scientist and engineers watch” then a date function and timing bezel would be needed.

Lab notes always start with the date. K, the timing bezel may not be that important but good to know how much time you have left on your lunch break!


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+1

[onehectare]

That SA made that story up.

[Pw92676]

I think it will get cycled back eventually, not necessary soon.

So…an AD sales associate at a place that previously disregarded you all of a sudden decides to give you confidential Rolex secrets? Definitely must be true. lol. Just kidding, the guy/girl was just making conversation or trying to make themselves sound important by having some insider information.

FWIW I would love a new milgauss. I loved the z blue from afar for years, bought it and loved it, its thickness/top heaviness was my only complaint but not a huge issue, and ultimately moved it towards something else. If it comes back as another z blue it may be the first watch I “re-acquire”.

[Bazil]

Very interesting read and to see what develops from this ..

** perhaps we can start the W and W 2025 thread early to accommodate this **

[travisb]

I'd love to see it's return.
The patent info was very interesting and could make a strong argument for it.

[Neil McCauley]

Yeh I would have to agree, that new balance spring would likely make it into all new references eventually rather than just in one specific reference. Why wouldn't you just put it in everything and have the superior technology throughout the range.

While I like the Milgauss (I've never owned one), I think it's lost its relevancy in the catalogue. There's no real advantage a scientist working at CERN would have wearing one these days compared to most other "high-grade" tool watches, and any reasoning to the contrary would be easily debunked.

I personally think it won't return, and if it did I would prefer to see it come back in a completely different guise, almost as a modern rendition of a 6541 with some additional tech features. I think this would be a much better application than a simple Air King with a different dial and an inner case. It would just be another watch nobody wanted.

Talking of Air Kings... don't even get me started on the most recent one...

[Langnam]

Doesn’t matter if there is a reissue or not.
I’ve had this baby for 15 years. Not going anywhere.




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