Rolex and CERN joined forces to develop the Milgauss watch, which could endure strong magnetic fields for use by CERN engineers and lab workers. In the mid 1950s, Rolex introduced the reference 6543 with a thick and soft iron ring around the caliber 1066 that could protect it from magnetic forces up to 1000 Gauss. The thinner and stainless steel reference 1019 replaced the 6541 and 6543 models in the early 1960s and remained in production until 1990.

After almost two decades, Rolex introduced a new Milgauss model in 2007, the ref. 116400, which featured an orange "Thunderbolt" second hand, a tinted crystal (unique to this reference, called GV), and bold aesthetics with orange accents on the dial. The non-GV Milgauss with a black dial was discontinued in 2013, only after six years of production. The Milgauss with a black dial and clear sapphire was discontinued before the Z-Blue dial made its debut at Baselworld in the following year, thus becoming the replacement for the black dial option. The entire Milgauss collection is now discontinued.