Hillary's Explorer

Did a newly minted Rolex Explorer prototype make it to the summit of Mt Everest in 1953 on the wrist of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? The general conscious is it did, but has the advertising of Rolex actually acknowledged this historical fact? We conclusively know that Buzz Aldrin's Speedmaster Professional made it to the lunar surface in 1969; Neil Armstrong's Speedmaster Professional was never actually worn on the lunar surface and was instead intentionally left in the lunar module due to the failure of the Bulova mission timer.

The Explorer was released back in 1953 and Rolex has heavily promoted the rugged appeal of the timepiece with plenty of alpine and mountaineering photo shoots in printed advertising material. What we do know is that Rolex sponsored the 1952 Lambert expedition whilst Hillary's expedition was led by John Hunt. Chief sherpa Tenzing Norgay was part of both expeditions, that is an historical fact that isn't in dispute with the Lambert expedition in 1952 getting to within 200 metres of the summit before they were forced to turn back.

As the mountain was conquered and opened up to subsequent expeditions; plenty of Rolex Explorers have now perched over the highest point on Earth on the wrist of well funded mountaineers. No doubt, so have many other timepieces. But the question remains, was the Explorer prototype there first? There may be evidence to conclude Hillary wore an Oyster Perpetual with a leather strap on at least part of the expedition.

There is some discussion as the Explorer was released in the year of Hillary's feat; this might not be an issue as Hillary could well have worn either a prototype or first release. The concept and prototype models would have been well advanced by this stage at any rate regardless of actual release date. However, Rolex implies in it's advertising that the timepiece went to Mt Everest but doesn't actually mention the actual feat in their advertising.

There is some discussion that Sir Edmund Hillary may have actually wore a timepiece manufactured by English watchmaker Smiths. If this is true, why has the marketing of Rolex promoted not only mountaineering but implied Hillary and Norgay wore an Oyster Perpetual on their wrist on the summit and possibly perpetuate a myth. The truth is, I don't know but I do find it interesting to speculate on why they don't seem to directly mention that a Rolex was on the wrist of Hillary and Norgay on the summit of Mt Everest in 1953.