Thread: Sir Edmund Hillary's Rolex to be sold

Sir Edmund Hillary's Rolex to be sold
01 Nov 2010

The Rolex watch presented to Sir Edmund Hillary after his successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 is being sold by his family.


Sir Edmund Hillary (right) wearing the watch on his Antarctic expedition with fellow explorer Vivian Fuchs (left)
Photo: BNPS

The Oyster Perpetual was given to the explorer by Rolex retailer Bosecks in Calcutta.

He wore it on his Antarctic expedition of 1955-1958 - the first overland crossing of Antarctica and the first expedition to reach the South Pole since Scott in 1912.

It is inscribed "To Sir E. Hillary From Bosecks Calcutta" and despite its damaged visage is valued at over £12,000.

The watch was the forerunner to Rolex's Explorer watches, which the company was inspired to make following Sir Edmund's feat.

Sir Edmund, who became the face of Rolex and was used to promote the watches, died in 2008.

The Oyster Perpetual watch is just one of the watches owned by the explorer which are going under the hammer.

Another of the watches, a Rolex Explorer I, was made in 1972 and was acquired by Sir Edmund on the 20th anniversary of his failed 1972 attempt on the mountain Cho Oyu.

His Explorer II - the so-called "Steve McQueen" - was made in 1973 and he bought it to mark to 20th anniversary of his Everest ascent. It is valued at £12,000.

Sir Edmund was 33 when he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest.

George Mallory might have made it to the summit in 1924, but he never returned and his body was found on the mountain in 1999.

Sir Edmund married Louise Rose in 1953 soon after his conquest and they had three children.

In 1975 his wife and daughter Belinda were killed in a plane crash near Kathmandu while on their way to visit Sir Edmund who was helping to build a hospital.

He married June Mulgrew in 1989 and she died in the same year he did. He had six grandchildren.

telegraph.co.uk

Originally Posted by Mid

The Oyster Perpetual watch is just one of the watches owned by the explorer which are going under the hammer.

Are they shockproof?


This is nothing, Neil Armstrong's compass will fetch a fortune when it comes up for auction.

Did he "lose it in a taxi" on the way back from Cowboy?

Originally Posted by Mid

valued at over £12,000.

That sounds bloody cheap for a watch with that kind of history.

Originally Posted by Mid

The Oyster Perpetual watch is just one of the watches owned by the explorer which are going under the hammer.

Bad choice of words.

Is the family that poor that they have to sale the watch? Not a hell of a lot of money.

Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

Originally Posted by Mid

valued at over £12,000.

That sounds bloody cheap for a watch with that kind of history.

Originally Posted by Mid

The Oyster Perpetual watch is just one of the watches owned by the explorer which are going under the hammer.

Bad choice of words.

I think you are right, sounds very cheap, more like £50,000.

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Is the family that poor that they have to sale the watch? Not a hell of a lot of money.

agree, disappointing as they wouldn't be 'children' but in their 50s? would have been nice to see the watch donated to a museum.

Money - doubt he had much to leave when he died. He spent the rest of his life doing charity/fundraising for schools/education/improved living standards/hospitals for the Sherpa/Nepalese people. His house was a typically plain 1940s wooden bungalow, nothing flashy.

I think the only 'real' paying job he had in the last 40 years was as NZ High Commissioner to India for a 4r spell.

He is the only living NZer ever to feature on a banknote - since 1992 the $5 note, read once he used to autograph them for people and tell them the note would be worth something when he was dead.

Top bloke.

Agree with That genghis, he was a fine man, totally altruistic,could have made a heap of money off his rep but not interested, only mission was help others

weird; that first article says Lady Hillary died the same year as Ed . . . she didn't. Lady Hillary is the second wife, not mother of the children, and seems it is her doing the selling, not 'family'.

from today's news
A spokeswoman for Sir Edmund's son, Peter Hillary, said he had just returned from travelling and did not wish to comment on the sale.

"He feels he's been out of the loop too long to comment," the spokeswoman said.

Fine living site Luxlist.com, which lists all the watches for sale, said the watches had been "consigned for sale by Lady Hillary".

He married Louise Rose in 1953 soon after his conquest and they had three children.
Louise and their daughter Belinda were killed in a plane crash near Kathmandu while on their way to visit Sir Edmund in 1975. Sir Edmund married June Mulgrew in 1989.

I agree, doesn't seem much compared to the figure named on the Antique Roadshow as the value of a pilots watch once owned by Laurence of Arabia?
Identified by the watch papers left by repairers and showing Laurences real name.
Can't remember the figure but it was considerably higher as I recall?

this seeme dto be the case from Peter Hillary's 'no comment' earlier.

Family feud over Sir Ed's watches
By Jared Savage
5:30 AM Friday Nov 5, 2010

ady June Hillary

Sir Edmund Hillary's children and his widow are fighting over a collection of Rolex watches owned by the great adventurer and now for sale in an international auction.

Peter and Sarah Hillary are trying to stop Lady June selling a gold watch worth more than $25,000 and other valuable timepieces that Sir Ed owned.

The siblings have barely spoken to their father's widow since he died in January 2008.

The Oyster Perpetual watch was presented to Sir Ed by Rolex after his ascent of Mt Everest in 1953 and he wore it when he led the New Zealand Antarctic Expedition, which reached the South Pole on January 4, 1958.

Sir Ed became the advertising face of Rolex and was given other watches. The collection is to be sold at an auction in Switzerland on November 13.

But Peter and Sarah Hillary claim they - not Lady June - own the watches, and have hired lawyers to stop the sale.

Peter Hillary said he was very disappointed to learn the watches were up for sale.

"It's a sad thing to do. As per my father's will, all of these types of items were part of the estate that were left to Sarah and me," he said.

Is there anything more undignified than a family arguing over a dead person's possessions?

^ you're right, this is shameful, what does the old bag need the $ for, or just trying to cash in to leave to 'her' heirs ie not Hillary's children.
If the will is as PH stated then that ends the case. Disgraceful way to have Sir Ed's name in the media. If they were being sold eg with 100% funds going to a Nepalese school there'd be big bids as effectively a donation, but for her personal gain . . .

Originally Posted by genghis61

Money - doubt he had much to leave when he died. He spent the rest of his life doing charity/fundraising for schools/education/improved living standards/hospitals for the Sherpa/Nepalese people. His house was a typically plain 1940s wooden bungalow, nothing flashy.

This is a truer heroism, yet is forgotten in our proposed image filled world.