Two Men. Three Watches. One Victor: Who Got There First
Rolex was present for one of New Zealand’s proudest achievements. When you’re trying to conquer earth’s highest point it’s important to know the time. You can’t be late for important appointments. What would you tell people “sorry I’m late I was just making history.”
As Tenzing and Hillary summited Mount Everest Sir Ed was wearing a Rolex on his wrist. Specifically it was a steel cased Oyster Perpetual with a leather strap and luminous indexes made in 1950. In some reporting it is mistaken for an Explorer. But that would be too easy. It was a simple timepiece loaned to him by Rolex who was a sponsor of the expedition. He wore it for science, not pleasure unfortunately, and upon completion of the pairs historic achievement Hillary sent the watch back to Rolex. Rolex wanted to perform measurements on one of the most unique stress tests they’d ever gotten on one of their timepieces. Unfortunately we don’t know the results of the test. Eventually the piece was donated to the Beyer Watch and Clock Museum in Zürich where you can view it today. Alongside it is the packing letter from where Hillary shipped it in Papakura. Print advertising from the time showed the watch alongside the accolades “”The ROLEX OYSTER PERPETUAL that accompanied the victorious British Everest Expedition. Waterproof, self-winding, and a miracle of accuracy, this watch is the ‘highest achievement’ of the watchmaking industry.”
Alongside the ad was a written letter by Hillary.
“I received the watch (Rolex) on March 29th an Jaynagar on the Nepalese border, and throughout the whole of the British Cho Oyu Expedition, until we finally reached India again some 14 weeks later, I wore the watch (Rolex) continuously, night and day, and on no occasion did it stop or require winding. In the course of the expedition it experienced considerable extremes of temperature, from the great heat of India to the cold temperature at over 22,000 feet, and seemed unaffected by the knocks it received on rock climbs or the continual jarring on long spells of stop cutting in ice.”
“To me an accurate watch is a novelty. I am one of those unfortunate people whose watches, for some some strange reason, always seem to go slow. No adjustment seems to counteract. However this Rolex has been different a different matter altogether. Its accuracy is all one could desire and it has run continuously without winding ever since I put it on some nine months ago…I count your watch amongst my most treasured possessions.”
According to Rolex Tenzing Norbu, Norgay’s son, wears his father’s Rolex watch, a vintage model from 1952. So why did Tenzing get to keep his watch. Legends say that Tenzing received his golden Rolex Date Just as a gift from the previous years failed expedition headed by Raymond Lambert. But that’s not right at all, the gift may have been conveyed by Lambert but it came directly from Rolex, as the engraving on the back of the watch is pretty clear. “Presented by the Rolex Watch Company as a memento of the Swiss expedition to Mount Everest.”
According to Philipp Stahl who sleuthed and went around the world to untangle this mess “Tenzing gave this precious watch to his son Norbu before he died. While visiting him in San Francisco, Norbu told me he had stuffed the watch for years in his television to cover a gap, not knowing its true value!”
It’s unclear if he used this watch during his summit with Hillary or whether Rolex gave him a matching one he also had to hand back.
Although things aren’t so clear cut. We aren’t done with the watches. There appears to be a third piece in the mix. Smiths is a brand you may not be familiar with since the last Quality British watch maker dropped horology in the 70s as it moved on to oil and gas exploration. But at the time of the ascent they were trying to get their names on something big. Neither they nor Rolex could claim the moon like Omega had. It appears that Hillary may have had a Smiths on him as well. An advert clipping for Smiths has a direct quote from Hillary “I carried your watch to the summit. It worked perfectly.”
There are people who claim he wore it, but he just said “carried”, so it’s all up for interpretation. The Steel Case Smiths De Luxe had been prepared with lubricant that could handle low temperatures. The dial was distinct because it had a JW Benson dial, but it was branded Smith. After his ascent in 1953 that same year he presented the watch in person to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in London. It is now sitting in the Science Museum in London.
DW Barret, Smith’s Managing Director at the time ‘Sir Edmund Hillary has stated in writing that he took a Smiths watch to the summit and no other, and he has offered the actual watch which he wore to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers for permanent exhibition in their museum at the Guildhall.’
Going through photography of the expedition doesn’t appear to show Hillary two timing it with two watches on. So one would have had to have been tucked away in a pocket somewhere.
Lambert was a Rolex man, and Norgay was a loyal friend. Unlike Hillary who seemed to have a laissez faire attitude toward the whole thing Norgay pointedly didn’t take a Smith with him on the expedition according to his widow.
I love that Norgay and Hillary never said who got to the top first. But Rolex and Smiths need to sort their stories out. Maybe bury the hatchet and do the same thing.
