Smiths were the only watches worn on the summit of Everest in '53. The proof.

[Rev-O]

I’d be delighted to be conclusively proved wrong by a killer source as that puts the issue to bed and would be one more fact to play with. However, I’m not sure I will be.

I fear the killer source will be Philipp Stahl’s unverified report of an unrecorded private conversation with Tenzing’s son. In which case expect the answer to be a Rolex.

(Stahl’s “Rolex Passion Report” replied to Perezcope on that thread but I can’t read it as he’s blocked me.)

[M4tt]

The thing is that Tenzing did have a range of watches and certainly enjoyed them. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few watches to be found. However, on Everest?

I have reasons to think Stahl has behaved poorly in the past and some of what he says is clearly false, but it isn’t clear to me if he is in error, misled or fibbing. He does like Rolex though…

[M4tt]

Did anything come of this? I assume that something got published somewhere, but I can't find it and I'm curious to know.

[Rev-O]

Did anything come of this? I assume that something got published somewhere, but I can't find it and I'm curious to know.

Nothing yet. We know it's not a Rolex and it was the second watch to the summit after Hillary's Smiths.

After that, who cares? If Perezcope actually knows then the "big reveal" will be an old, obscure and obsolete Swiss make -- so possibly something like a Cyma, Vertex, Font or Reconvilier. But 1.) that's not a very big reveal and 2.) how's he gonna prove it?

It's a footnote to a footnote, at best. The main thing is that he and his legion of followers all know about the Smiths -- all publicity is good publicity etc.

[M4tt]

I can see precisely why he'd think it was one of the CSI Longines, with the Borgel case in the early versions and the copy of a Borgel in the later ones, the lugs are low down in the case and that's how the best images of Norgay look. However, having spent quite a while examining all the possible suspects I still think that the Smiths is the best candidate. Why I think that can be summed up in two images. One is Norgay's on Everest and the other is Hillary's watch in the British Museum. Initially, and without comparing, it looks like the lugs join the case far too low of a Dennison Aquatite case, but does look just like a particular Borgel. However, if you carefully compare the two images, it seems to me that the way the lug is faceted, which is clear in Hillary's, would lead, in Tenzing's image, to both the impression of the lug joining low on the case, and the dark area directly above the lug (as it is in shadow while Hillary's isn't).


But don't forget Mallory's Borgel and Irvine's Ingersol, the first and second on the summit. Or indeed Odell's Elgin and Verner that placed the duo in the right place at the right time! ;-)

[Rev-O]

I can see precisely why he'd think it was one of the CSI Longines, with the Borgel case in the early versions and the copy of a Borgel in the later ones, the lugs are low down in the case and that's how the best images of Norgay look. However, having spent quite a while examining all the possible suspects I still think that the Smiths is the best candidate. Why I think that can be summed up in two images. One is Norgay's on Everest and the other is Hillary's watch in the British Museum. Initially, and without comparing, it looks like the lugs join the case far too low of a Dennison Aquatite case, but does look just like a particular Borgel. However, if you carefully compare the two images, it seems to me that the way the lug is faceted, which is clear in Hillary's, would lead, in Tenzing's image, to both the impression of the lug joining low on the case, and the dark area directly above the lug (as it is in shadow while Hillary's isn't).

I don't see drilled lug holes on Tenzing's watch though.

[M4tt]

I don't see drilled lug holes on Tenzing's watch though.

True, but I can barely see the crown either!