by Paul Little
‘The nicest thing,’ says Hilary Carlisle, ‘was all our generation—Peter, Sarah, and myself—getting together for the last time at the Hillary house before it was sold. It was Easter weekend, we had a barbecue and some drinks. It was a gorgeous day. We all roamed around the house and we talked about each of our adventures in the house as kids. Peter and Sarah showed us all the cupboards they used to hide in.’
The purchaser was Ed and June’s neighbour, Terry Jarvis, who wanted to acquire the land but not the building and announced he would probably demolish it. At this point interested parties began looking for a way to save one of the country’s most historic homes. After all, it was here where Ed had lived for nearly 60 years and where some of his greatest exploits had been planned.
Eventually it was decided to move the house to the school, where it would be converted into the Sir Edmund Hillary Leadership Centre. It was the sort of solution Ed himself would have come up with, especially when Jarvis offered to share with the government the cost of cutting up and removing the house.
Another option floated to secure the house’s future was to incorporate it somehow into Auckland Museum but ‘the museum owns no land and has no ability to accept the donation of a house,’ Vitali said at the time.
And as bitter, embarrassing and emotionally exhausting as the events of Ed’s death and the aftermath had been, they were as nothing compared to the affair of the watches.
CHAPTER 18
THE WATCH THAT BECAME
A TIME BOMB
On 29 May 1953 the explorers Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay with their Oyster took their first steps on the roof of the world . . . The same year, in a tribute to his historic feat, Rolex officially launched the Explorer model.
—Rolex promotional material
Ed and Rolex had a close association over the years: Ed was perceived as an ideal figure to endorse the company’s extremely expensive, upmarket timepieces. His image still appears on the company’s website, along with those of other great adventurers.
He was photographed for a Rolex ad with Reinhold Messner, the first person to summit Everest without oxygen. Messner was considerably shorter than Ed, so for the full-length photo a hole was dug in the snow to bring them closer together in height—Ed being brought down to Messner’s level presumably because there was no way Messner could come up to his.
Ed owned many watches, but the pearl in his collection was the Rolex Oyster Perpetual presented to him after Everest. Rolex enthusiasts are the trainspotters of horology, obsessing over the tiniest details of the timepieces in a way that would have left Ed nonplussed. He was the opposite—not one to fetishise possessions, he regarded a Rolex as something you used to tell the time, just as an expedition blazer was an item of clothing to wear. Every member of the 1953 Everest expedition had been supplied with a Rolex Oyster; and for him, it was just a watch.
The question of which timepiece was the first watch to get to the top of Mt Everest is the ‘Did Mallory get there first?’ of chronometry. As with that question, there is really no doubt. The watch Ed actually wore on the climb was one produced by the English watchmakers, Smiths. ‘I carried your watch to the summit. It worked perfectly,’ Ed said in ads for that company.
He also endorsed Rolex, but without saying he wore a Rolex on the climb: ‘Its accuracy is all one could desire and it has run continuously without winding ever since I put it on some nine months ago . . . I count your watch amongst my most treasured possessions.’
Ed did, however, reportedly wear the Rolex when he tractored to the South Pole in 1958. And it was the Rolex that provided a significant final chapter in the deteriorating relationship between Ed’s widow and his children. Auckland’s independent newspaper The Independent called it ‘The Rolex that became Hillary’s Timebomb’. June’s decision to sell Ed’s watches—and Peter and Sarah’s determination that she should not—brought the feud to the public’s attention. The general reaction was a mixture of bemusement and disappointment.
Families frequently fall out over relatively inconsequential things. The Hillarys had had disagreements before, of course, over the Himalayan Trust and numerous other matters of import. But the watches were different. Perhaps passions were higher than normal because a watch is something a son usually inherits from his father.
June decided to auction the watches to raise funds for the Himalayan Trust.
‘I wouldn’t for a second believe June Hillary would sell those for herself,’ says Mark Sainsbury. ‘She said, “I was always selling them to raise money for the Trust.” ’ ‘I was phoned by Radio New Zealand and they told me they were for sale,’ says Sarah. ‘We had heard earlier on. Someone had alerted [Peter’s wife] Yvonne that they’d heard the Everest watch was going up for sale.’
Peter was in no doubt that the watches belonged to him. He believed the watches had been left to Sarah and him. He believes it was pretty outrageous. ‘Second marriages do bring in all sorts of issues. But I think it was unfortunate that June chose not to talk—she just felt she would do what she wanted to do and you just go “That’s extraordinary”, really. Ed Hillary was my father, but he was a very special man; he did some very special things. It wasn’t just a family issue. It wasn’t just for Sarah and I to say these things belong to us and we’ll do with them as we wish.’
June was deeply hurt by suggestions that she was selling the watches for her own benefit. The whole watch saga ‘was very sad, especially for my mother,’ says Hilary Carlisle. ‘It was very stressful and in the end you adopted the position where you didn’t say anything because it was too difficult. But Mum was a bit razzed up about it. The whole watches thing would not have happened if communication was working before.’
The affair quickly went messily public. One newspaper had front-page photos of June and Peter, laid out going head to head. ‘It wasn’t public or anyone’s business,’ says Sarah, ‘but we couldn’t stop it. There are two sides of the coin to being well known.’
Somehow the infighting at the Himalayan Trust, where June at this point still held sway, appeared to get mixed up in it all. ‘I had been proposing that Peter become a member of the Himalayan Trust,’ says Mike Gill, ‘and I received a letter of expulsion from the Himalayan Trust the same day. By absolute chance I was at home—the courier came to the door and handed me a letter and it was a very formal letter signed by June, Lady Hillary, Jim Wilson, Murray Jones and all the family. It was pretty weird, but on exactly the same day, in the paper appeared this headline saying, “Hillary watches to be sold at auction in Geneva”. So the media called Peter [about the watches] and said, “What’s this?” He said, “I’ve never heard of this. It’s news to me.” And he said “Oh, that’s interesting, because one of Ed’s friends has been expelled by the Himalayan Trust this morning.” So the media came to me and they loved it. I was the lead interview on television that night.’
In Geneva, the watches were to be offered as part of a sale of ‘Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces’ by Antiquorum, which describes itself as the world’s premier watch auctioneer. Watch enthusiast Ben Clymer was beside himself as he described the offering on his blog, Hodinkee. But before anyone could be bidding on anything, Peter and Sarah had gone to the High Court in Auckland and gained an injunction which effectively prevented the sale going ahead.
The Hillary collection includes six lots, all of which come with signed certificates of authenticity from Lady Hillary, and each watch represents a milestone in this man’s life.
Lot 615: A Seiko Quartz number presented to Hillary in 1988 at the World Expo.
Lot 616: A two-tone Rolex Oyster Quartz purchased by Hillary himself in 1992 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his attempt to climb Cho Oyu from the Nepal side . . . Original sales receipt included that shows it was sold to Edmund Hillary.
Lot 617: 18k yellow gold Rolex Oyster. Date purchased by Hillary on the 50th anniversary of the day he reached the peak of Everest. Comes with proof it was sold to him on that date.<
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Lot 618: Rolex Explorer Ref 1016 purchased by Hillary in 1972 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his attempt to scale Cho Oyu from the Nepal side.
This watch is incredibly important as it is Hillary’s own Explorer, the watch that was named for him and his adventures on Mount Everest.
Lot 619: Rolex Explorer II Ref 1655 purchased by Hillary in 1973 to celebrate 20th anniversary of the day he reached the summit of Everest. Having purchased the Explorer I the year earlier, it only made sense for him to buy the just released Explorer II to celebrate this occasion. Estimate is $10,000–$15,000 . . . Lot 620: Incredibly important Rolex Ref 6084 presented to Sir Edmund Hillary by Rolex of India immediately after his ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953. We know it was given to him after he returned from Everest because of the ‘Sir’ engraved on the caseback—he received knighthood on June 6th, 1953, just a week after descending. He returned to Europe from Nepal via Calcutta, which is where he likely received this watch. He later wore this timepiece on his next great adventure, the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1955–1958.
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage expressed the view that at least Lot 620 might be subject to the provisions of the Protected Objects Act, which would have prevented it leaving New Zealand. It’s interesting, of course, to consider what it says about New Zealand’s sense of self that a Swiss item worn on a British expedition in an Asian country should be a protected object.
In an unlikely, but not impossible scenario, June could have been prosecuted for allowing that to happen. Over several days, she tried to get the watches withdrawn from sale.
Antiquorum was not impressed. ‘I’ve never heard of an item of personal property, actually belonging to a man, being claimed as heritage for a country,’ said managing director Julien Schaerer, who can’t have spent much time in European museums and art galleries. There were mutterings about a financial penalty for June if the watches were withdrawn from sale. ‘It’s a simple equation,’ said Schaerer. ‘We had huge amounts of interest in the watches, and already had a lot of registered bidders.’
The High Court took some time considering to whom Ed had left the watches. But the relevant clause in the will seems unambiguously to favour Peter and Sarah as owners of the watches. The clause states that after the bequests have been made and the house and other specified items disposed of, ‘the balance of my residuary estate’ should be divided ‘between such of my children Peter Edmund Hillary and Sarah Louise Hillary as shall survive me and if both shall survive me then in equal shares’.
Granting his injunction in November 2010, Justice Geoffrey Venning said, according to the NZPA report, ‘Lady Hillary thought the watches had been given to her by Sir Ed and she had not heard from Peter or Sarah Hillary about the watches since Sir Ed died in January, 2008.’ He said it was ‘ “perhaps surprising” Lady Hillary made the decision to sell the watches without consulting Peter or Sarah Hillary’, although he added that this observation was not intended as a criticism of June. He had also been at pains to note that once Peter and Sarah’s concerns about the sale of the watches had been raised, June took steps to resolve the matter and all concerned had ‘responsibly and reasonably agreed on a process to resolve the issue between them’.
Earlier in November, Otago Museum opened a small display of items recently donated by June Hillary. The seventeen pieces of memorabilia included the camera Ed used to photograph Tenzing on Everest, rock shards from the mountain, a ‘Hillary’s Honey’ honey pot, a luggage tag, his first and last passports and other artefacts. Peter said he had only learnt about the gift when he read about it in the newspaper and was ‘deeply saddened’ that June had given away the items without consulting the family. The camera was among several items that ‘accompanied me to the summit of Everest’ that Ed’s will left to June to ‘use as she thinks fit including their sale if she so desires’.
The watches took some time to get home. Their return was finally effected by Rolex enthusiast Philipp Stahl, who had connections with all the relevant parties. As he wrote on his website in June 2011:
Now some 6 months later, Hillary’s collection was still in [Antiquorum’s] vault. Today we finally reached agreement in sorting out the loss AQ claimed they had by not auctioning the Hillary collection. I had a long debate with Evan & Julien that started when I was in Geneva last time, with Peter Hillary & Jamling Tenzing Norgay for our HTE project. Several meetings finally made it happen that today the whole collection is free again to travel back to NZ where the historical Rolex Bosecks will be displayed soon in the Auckland museum that has a permanent exhibition on Sir Edmund Hillary.
The intended Lot 620—the ‘Everest Rolex’ that had been presented to Ed by Bosecks, Rolex’s retailer in India—is now in Auckland Museum. ‘Sarah and I have given it to the museum, along with a whole lot of other things,’ says Peter, ‘and I think it is the right place for these very special things to be. I think, rather than me just wearing that watch once a month, it is really better off residing in a public place where the community can also appreciate it. It can be looked after and enjoyed by a lot of people. I know the museum will . . . let me look at it when I want to, so I think that’s the right thing to do. Sure, we could have hocked them off and got vast amounts of money; but that was not what that issue was about. It is a special keepsake for the family.’
It was humiliating for June. After the affair was over, she was also interviewed, somewhat to her surprise, by ABC-TV’s Foreign Correspondent program during the anniversary visit to Khumjung, where Peter was also present. ‘An Australian crew there asked for an interview about the Khumjung anniversary and she got caught unawares,’ says Mark Sainsbury. ‘She can look a bit haughty. And that’s why she’s particularly gun shy [about being interviewed].’
Asked by Foreign Correspondent’s reporter Eric Campbell about the watches, when she expected to be asked only about the Trust’s work, June was startled. ‘But that’s nothing to do with the Himalayan Trust,’ June answered. ‘Absolutely nothing, except that I wanted to sell them to give the money to the Himalayan Trust. [Peter] didn’t like that. Ed gave them to me to do that and I haven’t been allowed to do it.’
‘Obviously we have to ask about it,’ says Campbell.
‘But why?’
‘Because it’s been in the public arena.’
‘In Australia?’ asks June in apparent disbelief.
‘In Australia and obviously in New Zealand.’
June is obviously appalled to learn that this family affair is an international talking point. ‘That’s disgraceful.’
Asked if he would like to repair the relationship with June, Peter avoids a direct answer. ‘You know, I don’t wish the Mulgrews any ill. I would like to see them. We were actually very keen that [ June’s granddaughter] Rebecca [Hayman] stay on the Himalayan Trust council, but that was her decision to go as well.’
‘I would really like to see a repair,’ says Sarah. ‘I’d like everything to calm down. I think we have all got things to contribute and let’s just get on with that. I would love that to happen. It would be nice to talk to her when things have calmed down.’
‘It was all so unnecessary,’ says Peter. ‘I am glad it is over and everyone can get on with their lives—that’s what we should do and I know that’s what our father would want us to do.’
‘We just want to go on to a positive future,’ says Sarah, ‘because there is a whole family. We have known them all for most of our lives. But the thing is: I am not in contact with June at the moment, because it’s all been a bit recent and we all need to have some space. I think we just need a bit of a break. But I am looking forward to a nice peaceful future, because it has been bandied around as a family feud. It never really was a family feud, but it was an unfortunate situation. The only way we could stop the watch sale was to go to the court, which was unfortunate. And then it got into the media.’
Mark Sainsbury, who is clearly closer to June than her stepchildren, isn’t sure the relation
ship can ever come back from the watch debacle. ‘I don’t know if there ever would be a truce,’ says Sainsbury. ‘I can see it from Peter Hillary’s view as well—suddenly feeling displaced. It’s probably always not going to work. But [June’s friends] were angry because they said the whole point of selling was for the Trust and never for June Hillary, but she got painted as the greedy widow.’
‘I’m very sad about all this stuff that’s going on,’ says Cath Tizard. ‘I know June and Peter Hillary never got on, but the bitterness that seems to have risen is very sad. Every few months we get together and have a gossip. I heard a good deal about this latest row over watches. She, I think, has tried to be discreet about it all; but she’s the one who’s got the blame publicly for all this. It’s her way of protecting Ed Hillary’s memory, to be reserved about their relationship.’
Tom Scott thinks peace may reign from now on. ‘Maybe now the Trust is in [Peter’s] hands and him and June Hillary have given up wrestling. June is 80 now.’
Although the Everest Rolex now resides in Auckland Museum rather than on the wrist of a plutocratic mountaineering enthusiast, it will still be possible for a few people to own a Rolex or two with a Hillary connection, in the form of the Rolex Hillary Tenzing Edition Explorer set, produced with the involvement of Philipp Stahl. According to the website press material:
The limited Hillary Tenzing Explorer series has been created in close cooperation with Peter Hillary and Jamling Tenzing Norgay, sons of the famous mountaineers and acclaimed adventurers themselves. ‘I am very excited to participate with Jamling in this unique project,’ says Auckland-based Peter Hillary. ‘We talked a lot about it during our recent trip to Kilimanjaro and really like the celebration that the Rolex Hillary Tenzing Explorer packages represent [. . .] a great team achieving great heights on Everest.’
The Hillary Tenzing Explorer tribute will be produced in a limited edition series of only 88 packages, consisting of 3 customised Rolex Explorer models and several custom-made items commemorating the successful 1953 ascent. All items will be packed in a handcrafted Everest expedition crate, individually numbered including a signed certificate by Peter Hillary and Jamling Tenzing Norgay.