Royal Marines veteran raises over £60,000 auctioning his Bremont watch for charity

In 2017 war veteran and triple amputee Mark Ormrod donated his special military edition Bremont RMC350 mechanical timepiece, commissioned to commemorate the 350th anniversary of The Royal Marines, to a charity raising money for the Royal Marines Charity.

A bidding battle between two people at the sale drove the price up to £12,500, but the winner of the auction suggested that both bidders should pay the £12,500, instantly raiding £25,000 for the charity.

Still more remarkably, both bidders agreed that the watch should be returned to Mr Ormrod.

A year later and the same charity auction has taken place again and Mr Ormrod was back with his personalised Bremont watch, attempting to sell it a second time for the same cause.

And, once gain, two individual donors reached an agreement to each give £15,000 for Mark’s watch, while promising to then give him his watch back. With anticipated gift aid from these donations the charity hopes that, to date, Mark’s watch will have raised £61,500 in two years and he still owns it.

“The exclusivity of Bremont’s military watches has always drawn an incredible amount of interest because they’re so unique and only available for the military to purchase. It is very rare to see these up for auction, and the fact that two years running donors have generously given to the charity as well as allowing Mark to keep this special timepiece is extraordinary. We are incredibly proud to support the military where we can and to know that this watch has now helped to raise over £50,000 to this important cause is very special indeed,” says Catherine Villeneuve, Bremont’s head of military & special projects.