Hillary said neither he nor Tenzing wore a Rolex to the summit in this letter to The Horological Journal, November 1953:

“As Mr R. A. Winter [Rolex] is not quite sure if Sir Edmund Hillary received his Rolex, and if Mr E. Carey demands to know the true facts about the Everest watches, the obvious solution seem to be to ask Sir Edmund himself, and I did so last week-end. He assures me that he wore one watch only, his Smiths, during the last stages of the climb but, at the same time, he spoke very highly of the Rolex, and the fact that it remained behind in the comparative safety of the Base Camp was no reflection on the watch, but simply a common-sense precaution to keep one in reserve, and to avoid any possible chance of getting both smashed at the same time. The precaution was against accidental damage, and there seems to have been no fear that any of the watches would fail. As this confidence was fully justified, both makers are to be congratulated.
Tensing carried a single watch, his own, of unrecorded make, but he did not do any of the timekeeping, or calculations for consumption of oxygen — called by the Sherpas “English Air”.
The pictures used by Messrs. Smiths in the September advertisement is of Messrs. Bourdillon and Evans, exhausted on their return from the South Summit, but I feel sure, from a chance remark, the encircled watch is also a Smiths.
Sir Edmund is taking back a London watch, made by Jno. Fladgate, in 1766, but it is most unlikely that he will take it on his next expedition; much as I admire the verge escapement, I felt obliged to warn him against using it to time his oxygen consumption, as I have a sneaking feeling that it might not be completely accurate at -40 deg. C. !
I hope that this is the information required, and that everyone will feel perfectly satisfied but, if any makers of very expensive watches would like to start a new controversy, by having their products carried to the top of Inkpen Beacon (c. 902 ft.), they have only to send them to yours very truly,

E. HILLARY
“The Old Cottage”
Newtown
Newbury”

I got my Rolex Explorer as a birthday present 45 years ago and it has spent the years since on my wrist. It keeps great time, has suffered drops to the porcelain tile bathroom floor, many shocks from shop craft, auto restoration and vibration from many years riding a ‘49 Harley-Davidson. It cost $350. It has been cleaned three times, never needs batteries and every now and then someone says “what a cool watch!”. Thanks mom and dad! It’s a pretty great watch!

Hey… This blog ape might have won a contest… if there ever was one… for beating the shit out of your Rolex.

https://thetruthaboutwatches.com/2020/09/safe-queen-watch-wear-or-stare/

And just because you do doesn’t mean they don’t.