Watches: climbing to the top of Mount Everest

When Edmund Hillary got to the top of Everest in 1953 he spent about a quarter of an hour scouring the surrounding mountainscapes for other places to climb. Before beginning the descent, he declined to have his photo taken. Imagine that now... Tenzing Norgay did pose for a picture, but only because Hillary wanted to document the feat, not because the Sherpa thought he looked awesome with an ice pick. Both men became celebrities, but this wasn’t what they were looking for – they just wanted to climb.

Others wanted as much publicity from the expedition as possible. Behind the scenes, two companies were working very hard to be seen as the watchmaker that helped conquer the world’s highest mountain. In the Swiss corner was Rolex; in the British corner was S. Smith & Sons – later Smiths – a company that started as a watch- and clockmaker in 1851, and diversified into making instruments for cars, boats and planes.

Rolex was one of the first brands to fully understand the power of advertising. From the Twenties it took out newspaper ads showing watches surviving cross-Channel swims and land speed records. The Everest attempt was right up Rolex’s street and it kitted out Hillary’s team with watches and made sure as many people as possible knew about it.

Rolex was streets ahead in the publicity game, but Smiths did at least have some home advantage. The British expedition was keen to use as much home-grown equipment as possible, and Smiths provided watches and also offered altimeters and oxygen gauges. Both Rolex and Smiths watches went on the expedition, but they were shared among the 15-man team. The question is, which watches made it to the summit with Hillary and Tenzing?

Rolex adverts were careful to say that they supplied watches to the expedition, rather than that they were worn to the summit. A Smiths advert was more direct, quoting Hillary as saying: “I carried your watch to the summit. It worked perfectly.”

Whatever the truth of who wore what on a chilly mountain, the real winner is clear. Rolex is the best known watch brand in the world, while Smiths stopped making watches in the Seventies. Don’t feel too bad for the plucky Brit, though; it pivoted to other parts of the business and now exists as an engineering giant making everything from medical scanners to fuel lines for aircraft. 

ROLEX EXPLORER

The watch given to the Everest party was an Oyster Perpetual, a forerunner to the Explorer, a mainstay of the Rolex range almost 70 years on. The watch makes a stylish statement, but cuts a relatively modest figure. The latest generation has
a case size of just 36mm (down from 39mm). The new-gen Explorer has Rolex’s Calibre 3230 self-winding movement. The Oyster case is guaranteed waterproof to 100 metres. The case is cut from a solid block of Oystersteel – a corrosion-resistant alloy. Caseback is hermetically screwed down with a special tool that allows only Rolex watchmakers to access the movement.

From £5,700; Rolex.com

LUMINOX ATACAMA FIELD
Things don’t get much chillier than the life of an Icelandic search-and-rescue officer, or tougher than the life of a US Navy Seal, but those are just two of the groups supplied by Luminox. Water resistant to 200 metres, with a screw-in case back and screw-down crown. Luminescent markings glow for up to 25 years.

£1,055; luminox.com

SUUNTO 9 PEAK
This slender number from the Finnish sports instrument maker Suunto is about as clever as watches get. It comes with built-in altimeter, plus comprehensive sleep and activity trackers. Neat 3D map function allows you to see tricky mountain terrain ahead. The 43mm grade 5 titanium case is water resistant to 100m. Battery life of up to 14 days.

£629; suunto.com

TIMEX EXPEDITION
As a no-nonsense piece of kit you can’t get much better than this. It has luminescent hands for murky conditions. And it will never run out of battery, with a solar powered movement that can go up to four months without seeing the light. Recycled fabric strap and 41mm stainless steel case. Water resistant to 100m.

£145; Timex.com