REVEALING THE PLANET EARTH
On 29 May, 1953, a team of bold gentlemen took the final steps to summitting the highest peak in the world, nearly a century after it was identified as the highest point on Earth and after eight previous attempts to summit it by the British and 11 across the world. Sir Edmund Hillary was ahead, but he insisted Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa guiding the team, take the first steps and claim that honour. We’ll call it even, but what was memorable was the watches they had strapped to their wrists — a Rolex. By its very nature, exploration often requires taking great risks that test endurance and will. To reach further, to venture into the most hostile parts of the planet to learn more about them — goes to the heart of what it means to be human.
On this ascent, Hillary had on his wrist, along with the other team members, a prototype Oyster Perpetual on his wrist. The watch, which had been produced in 1950, was not yet intended for commercial use; the purpose for Rolex’s involvement with the expedition and equipping the team with Oyster Perpetual watches was to recover them after and test them to see how the timepieces weathered the intense conditions of Everest. In 1953, with the experience gained from the ascent of Everest, as well as other testimony provided by climbers, the brand launched the Explorer watch in honour of the first-ever successful ascent of Everest. Later, the performance of the Explorer model was
