The present specimen is without a doubt one of the most honest and complete to appear at auction. It not only perfectly exemplifies the lack of demand at the time of its commercialization, but it is also an extremely rare example of the same watch being originally sold with both a first series silver dial and hands and a second series black dial and hands.

The story of this watch begins in the early 1970s when it was originally shipped to prominent Turin-based retailer Astrua with a silver dial. Failing to immediately find an owner, the watch sat in the safe of Astrua for more than a decade and finally, the current owner bought it in 1988 (coincidentally, the last year of production of the model). However, the buyer is an extremely demanding collector, he specifically demanded an additional black dial but also additional handset; Astrua was happy to grant this request and thus supplied a black dial and handset which was a second series given the time when the request was submitted, coming in the original Rolex factory sleeve.

Completing the extraordinary set of accessories of this timepiece, it is provided not only with its 1988 Rolex Garantie double stamped by Astrua, but also with its original 1970s box and outer packaging, duly bearing both the Astrua label and the tiny silver dot identifying this piece as a silver dial one. Compounding to this the extremely well preserved condition of both case and dial - the owner used it only a handful of times - it is safe to say that the present Milgauss 1019 is one of the most attractive and collectible to recently appear on the public market.