Watchmaker Robert Loomes and Gurkha patron Joanna Lumley pose with the Everest watch raffled to raise £7,000 for Nepal.
Robert Loomes and Robina Hill, managing director of Stamford-based Robert Loomes & Co, dined with the Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistics Regiment last week at the Tower of London.
Loomes presented a mountaineering team from the Royal Gurkha Regiment with a batch of watches in March to take with them on an expedition up Everest in May which aimed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Gurkha’s association with the British Army and raise funds for the Gurkha Welfare Trust and the Mountain Trust.
The expedition coincided with the Nepalese earthquake in May and, while the team survived avalanches on the mountain unscathed, the expedition was cancelled.
The Everest expedition watch raffle in May raised £7000 for Nepal and the other two watches will be sold later this year to raise further funds.
The expedition climbing leader, Capt Dick Gale, returned the watches to the British Horological Institute (BHI) this week. One will remain on display at the BHI museum for the summer, the only 21st century watch in the exhibition.
