On the summit ridge of Annapurna, in the Nepalese Himalayas, on June 3, 1950, at two in the afternoon, Maurice Herzog raised his wrist to plant the French flag at the highest point of the first eight-thousander ever climbed by man. His watch, however, had stopped. Louis Lachenal, his climbing partner, would later recall that Herzog had "undoubtedly forgotten to wind it." Years later, Lachenal would even admit that he no longer remembered whether his companion was still wearing his gloves at the moment his hands froze.
This scene would be the first in a long series. For ten years, from 1950 to 1960, every conquest of an 8,000-meter peak was accompanied by a different watch, from a different manufacturer, and most often, a doubt that would never be entirely resolved as to what really happened at the summit. LIP, Rolex, Smiths, Hercules, Enicar, Certina: each would have its climber, its publicity stunt, and its shadow of uncertainty.
Annapurna 1950: the LIP on Maurice Herzog's wrist
The timepiece Herzog wore that day was no mere accessory. It was a prototype designed by the LIP manufacture around the R25 caliber, developed two years earlier by watchmaker Jean-Georges Laviolette and housed in a waterproof Keystone case purchased from the Americans—the very same one used by the United States Navy for its own instruments. A spring made of Elgiloy, a stainless and non-magnetic alloy fresh from the labs, was intended to withstand extreme cold and the magnetism of the scientific equipment carried by the expedition. Tested up to six thousand meters, the piece's precision remained impeccable; beyond that, it lost a few seconds, before condensation eventually, higher still, froze the winding mechanism under a film of ice. It would not be until 1954, four years after Herzog's feat, that LIP finally named this model the Himalaya, after, or so the brand recounts, a conversation between Fred Lip, the founder's grandson, and Lionel Terray, the expedition guide and a friend of the house.
Everest 1953: Rolex versus Smiths, the battle of the two watches
Three years later, another summit, another enigma—the most famous of all. On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached Everest at the head of the ninth British expedition led by John Hunt. Rolex had equipped part of the climbing team, including the porters, with Oyster Perpetuals that still lacked the "Explorer" name, continuing a Himalayan sponsorship started in 1933. But at the precise moment Hillary set foot on the highest point in the world, it was very likely a Smiths De Luxe, a British steel watch with a case signed by Dennison, that was ticking on his wrist rather than the Genevan prototype. James Dowling, biographer for the crown brand, is blunt: neither Norgay, nor Hillary, nor anyone on the 1953 expedition wore a Rolex at the summit. Yet, a few days after the climb, an advertisement appeared in The Times: "Rolex, seven times on Everest. Finally at the summit." Smiths countered the very next day with its own ad: "On Top of the World!". Two manufacturers, the same mountain, the same feat to claim; and it was Rolex that year that launched the first reference to bear the name Explorer and the 3-6-9 dial, which has since become a classic of the genre.
Nanga Parbat and K2, the Hercules and Vulcain watches
At the same time, on another slope of the Himalayas, Hermann Buhl wrote a unique page in the history of mountaineering. On July 3, 1953, the Austrian reached the summit of Nanga Parbat alone and without oxygen—the peak nicknamed the "Killer Mountain" after having claimed the lives of thirty-one climbers before him. On his wrist was a Hercules watch from the Swiss workshops of Henzi & Pfaff. The feat was resounding; the brand would long make it the centerpiece of its marketing, before it too disappeared in the turmoil of the quartz revolution of the 1970s, only to be reborn recently. A year later, on July 31, 1954, Italians Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni were the first to reach the summit of K2, under the direction of geologist Ardito Desio and alongside a young Walter Bonatti. Their wrists bore Vulcain Crickets, mechanical alarm watches already proven two years earlier on the Peruvian slopes of Salcantay.
You can read our article dedicated to the Vulcain Cricket.
1956: the Enicar Sherpa conquers Lhotse and Everest
May 1956 brought the first half of the decade to a beautiful close for Switzerland. The expedition led by Albert Eggler reached Lhotse on May 18th (Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger), followed by Everest twice: on May 23rd by Ernst Schmied and Jürg Marmet, and the following day by Dölf Reist and Hansruedi von Gunten. On those four wrists were Enicar Ultrasonic Sherpas, whose vintage advertisements touted precision maintained between minus forty-five and plus forty-five degrees. The success was such that the brand made it their signature model from that year onward; over one hundred variations would emerge over its thirty-year career.
Dhaulagiri 1960: the Certina DS closes the decade
The last remaining unclimbed eight-thousander, Dhaulagiri, did not fall until May 13, 1960, under the leadership of Max Eiselin. Six climbers, including the Austrian Kurt Diemberger, reached the summit equipped with Certina DS watches, just launched the previous year with a floating movement intended to absorb shocks. On the case of Eiselin's watch, an engraving marks the decade: "Schweizer Himalaya Expedition 1960".
The true conquest of these watches
Dhaulagiri closed the list of the last virgin giants, but not the quarrel that still surrounds their watches. In the vintage market today, these pieces are contested with more fervor than any summit ever was, without ever settling who wore what on that day at an altitude where no one else could bear witness. Perhaps that is, more than seventy years later, the true conquest of these watches: to remain an enigma that no rope team will ever entirely unravel.
These expedition pieces have become rare. Explore our selection of mechanical vintage watches, each serviced by our watchmaker and covered by a 12-month warranty.