Rolex Explorer II watches
While it is true that many of the members of the successful Everest expedition were issued with Rolex watches (see the advertisement on page 243), the embarrassing fact for Rolex was that only one of the two climbers at the top was wearing a Rolex. This watch, worn by Tenzing Norgay, is now in the Rolex Museum in Geneva.Although Rolex was an official supplier to the Everest expedition, so was the English watch company Smith's and Edmund Hilary chose to wear a Smith's watch (see the advertisement below). In the end it was the Rolex publicity machine that triumphed. Interestingly, due to a pact made by Tenzing and Hilary, we will never know which watch was first at the summit; both climbers have always said that it mattered nothing who was first.
The real origins of the Explorer are revealed by its name. It was designed for explorers and so it had a high visibility dial. an extra strong case, and, on request, it could even be lubricated with a special oil which could withstand temperatures of between -20 and +40 without changes in its viscosity.As such it was used by many expeditions both before and after the successful Everest expedition.
The look of the Rolex Explorer II watches is all about the dial, which is a mixture of a number of previously used styles. The large triangle at "12" was first used by the company on the mixed Roman and Arabic dial of the early 1940s. The large arabic numerals for the Quarters and bars for the remainder are seen on many of the very first model cushion Oysters. Despite this somewhat mixed parentage, the dial has taken on an identity of its own and can never be confused with any other.
