Exclusive Timepieces 22 – 23 April 2023 | Monaco
Auction Details
The Monaco Legend Group team has put together an astonishing selection of rarities in the horological field. From the Unique Piece Rolex Yachtmaster, former property of the late President of Rolex Patrick Heiniger, to an outstanding example of the Patek Philippe 2523-1. Not to mention the great selection of rarities destined for Middle Eastern market, such as a Rolex Submariner and Daytona from the Sultanate of Oman and a steel Daytona with UAE emblem on the dial.
Many thanks to Auro Montanari, alias John Goldberger, Roberto Randazzo and George Pakkos for their significant help in supervising the catalogue and to Eric Tortella for his assistance in searching for some of our rarest Patek Philippe watches in his database and releasing his passport of authenticity for them.
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Session I: Saturday 22 April, 2:30 PM – lots 1 to 100
Session II: Sunday 23 April, 10:30 AM – lots 101 to 164
Session III: Sunday 23 April, 2:30 PM – lots 165 to 261
32 Rolex Very Rare and Attractive, Milgauss, Automatic Wristwatch in Steel, Gorgeous Tropical Honeycomb Dial, Reference 6541
Estimate: € 80,000 – 160,000
Sold € 143,000
Model: Milgauss
Reference: 6541
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Bracelet Material: Stainless Steel
Year: 1958
Movement: Automatic
Caliber: 1066
Case N°: 412375
Dimensions: 38 mm
Signed: Dial, Case and Movement
The Rolex Milgauss is one of those watches with a very fascinating story behind it and it’s often considered one of the most avant-garde models ever produced by the brand with the crown. The Milgauss was designed for being used in areas of high electromagnetic fields, specifically found in laboratories and electro-engineering. Its perfect functionality was given to the use of a “bell” made of soft iron which, acting as a “Faraday cage”, isolated the gauge from any external electromagnetic field. This also explains the origin of the name chosen, coming from “Mil” for thousand and “Gauss”, the unit to measure magnetism. The very first model was released in 1954 and was the reference 6543. Instead, the first example to use the distinctive “bell” was the well known 6541 like the present lot characterized by the iconic thunderbolt hand for the seconds and the honeycomb dial, specimens that nowadays are absolutely cult pieces for collectors. The present 6541 is distinguished by its smooth bezel, indicating it was made for the U.S. market, in fact, the movement is stamped “ROW” too that it means “Rest of the World”, a distinctive sign of the exported movements from Switzerland. The three-body case in stainless steel is very well preserved and comes with all its features like the inclined bezel, screwed-down case back and crown and its innovation, the anti-magnetic soft iron protecting cap. The dial is beautiful with a black surface that turned in a charm brown color and with its unmistakable pattern honeycomb, with luminous round and applied steel faceted triangular indexes and steel dauphine hands. Another example of Rolex foresight, the Milgauss is now a must for every collection of sports watches.