For the second year running, remarkable war veteran Mark Ormrod has generously offered his Bremont RMC350 up for auction in honour of a cause close to his heart. In 2017 the former Royal Marine Commando raised an incredible £25,000 to then have the watch given back to him. This week, Mark offered the watch up for auction at the same annual event and trumped the money raised in 2017 by a further £5,000 only to be reunited with his cherished watch once again.
The 2017 Royal Marines Charity Gala saw Lord Jeffrey Archer host an animated live auction post dinner which included a lot for Mark Ormrod’s Bremont RMC350 mechanical timepiece. The special edition military watch, commissioned to commemorate the 350th anniversary of The Royal Marines, became the centre of a bidding war with the price soaring up to £12,500. In a fantastic twist of fate, the leading bidder suggested they should both contribute and further return the watch to Mark, to which they both agreed, doubling the money raised by the watch to £25,000.
Mark was of course humbled to have his Bremont returned to him, which is uniquely engraved with his service number, but it didn’t stop him generously donating his watch again at this year’s charity event aiming to raise money and awareness for the Royal Marines Charity organisation and all of the families affected.
With an incredible and unprecedented repeat of last year’s generous proceedings, two individual donors reached an agreement to each give £15,000 for Mark’s watch, promising to then give him his watch back. With anticipated gift aid from these phenomenal donations the charity hopes that, to date, Mark’s watch will have raised £61,500. The money raised this week contributed to the huge £923,000 total sum from the evening’s festivities.
Catherine Villeneuve, Bremont’s Head of Military & Special Projects comments, “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”.
Former Royal Marine Commando Mark Ormrod, was on a routine foot patrol in Helman Province in 2007 when he stepped on and triggered an Improvised Explosive Device. He lost both his legs and right arm. Determined not to let it define him, Mark now competes in cycling, rowing and swimming as a key part in his recovery jigsaw. He saw huge success during the Invictus Games winning medals in both 2017 and 2018. In 2017 he was congratulated by HRH Prince Harry for his performance, receiving the Jaguar Award for Exceptional Performance.