The Milgauss is the result of a direct collaboration between Rolex and the Geneva-based nuclear-research organization, CERN - Centre Européen de Recherche Nucléaire (European Organization for Nuclear Research). Their aim was to develop a wristwatch that could withstand intense magnetic fields and thus be worn by the CERN engineers and laboratory workers constantly in highly magnetic environments.

Reference 1019 was introduced to the market as the successor of references 6541 and 6543. While the new Milgauss retained its inner Faraday Cage to protect the movement from electromagnetic waves, the model also featured a fresh and modern update to its appearance such as a smooth bezel, modified dial layout, and updated case size. The present example is fitted with a dial variant with black inserts for the hour markers and hands, instead of a luminous material. Also known as a "CERN" dial, this configuration is believed to have been created with CERN and designed without tritium as the latter could affect sensitive radioactivity sensors.

The present “CERN” Milgauss reference 1019 comes to us with a heartwarming story – purchased by the consignor for his father in 1981 at a jewelry store in Mississippi, it was a treasured gift worn faithfully for many years. The consignor’s grandfather was a World War II U.S. Army veteran who came to the United States from Italy in 1913. The clasp is engraved “GRANDPA – 1981.”