I'm in two minds about putting my entire email correspondence with Philipp Stahl on here (he's asked me not to and to be honest there's nothing to be learned from it) but I am happy to quote what he says on his blog.

It actually appears twice:

"Although it will always remain a mystery if Rolex was literally on the summit, the Oyster Perpetual models were an essential part of the equipment back then."

Sources:

http://rolexpassionreport.com/5722/t...nzing-edition/

http://rolexpassionreport.com/4590/r...and-obsession/

I can say I agree with that 100%

Of course, what isn't a "mystery" is that Smiths "was literally on the summit"

And I think that's me done.

Cheers

Ollie