...MILLE MINUTES OF SILENCE...
ROLEX DISCONTINUES
THE MILGAUSS. AGAIN.
By DANNY CRIVELLO
Before colors became the new black, the Milgauss was the most colorful Rolex in the collection. It was not just the anti-magnetic watch for the nerd, it was the un-Rolex Rolex for the young and cool.
First introduced in 1954, eventually discontinued in the late '80s before it was brought back in 2007, the Milgauss's death had been greatly exaggerated. A lightning orange second hand, a green sapphire crystal or Glasse Verte, it represented the watch for those who wanted to wear Rolex but were too cool to show it. In 2014, with an electric blue dial coated with Zirconium, the Z-blue made a splash at Baselworld 2014. It lived for less than a decade but it lived for greatness.
Today's Rolex's blue Parachrom hairspring makes any Rolex more anti-magnetic than the Milgauss. The technology in watchmaking has improved. We no longer make a watch anti-magnetic by protecting the movement with a soft iron cage, but by improving the materials that make up the movement.
As Rolex battles supply shortages, it decided to streamline the production. It made sense to discontinue the heavy case, the old 3131 movement. No word on when or if it will be back.
In memoriam, check out the dozens of awesome pictures of the Milgauss in the Rolex Magazine library including the complete history.
