Loomes everest

VIDEO: Loomes auctions timepiece that has been to the top of Mount Everest

Watch is being auctioned online right now by Bonhams to raise money for the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

A British-made timepiece involved in one of the most dramatic and tragic events in the history of Everest mountaineering is being auctioned by its maker, Loomes, for charity.

The hand-made Loomes Everest Gurkha Welfare Trust watch was worn by one of a team of Gurkha soldiers who summited Mount Everest in May 2017.

It is the same team that two years earlier was caught on Everest as a devastating earthquake in Nepal, which killed around 9,000 people, caused an avalanche that devastated a base camp on the side of the mountain.

Click here to go to the live auction. The auction ends on November 16.

The Ghurka team heroically assisted other climbers off the mountain after the 2015 quake and to safety before using their remaining time to do vital relief work after the earthquake, effectively working alongside The Gurkha Welfare Trust, for which Loomes is raising money with this unique watch.

Back in England the team regrouped and in 2017 nearly the exact same group of Gurkha soldiers left for a second attempt. They made sure to take the Loomes GWT wristwatch.

As they had planned, the G200E arrived fit, early in the season and well prepared. So much so that the Nepali Sherpas took them along to do the vital route preparation they do every season. Led by their experienced climbing leader, Capt Dick Gale, the team became the first to summit that season.

It was the British Army’s most successful Everest mission, with thirteen serving Gurkhas making it to the top and all returning safely.

“The Gurkha soldiers have an extraordinary calm and determination which you don’t find in any other British Army regiment,” said Robina Hill of Loomes. “Their modesty afterwards astounded me, simply saying it was good for the watch, because it would raise money for the GWT.”

 

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