A Cartier watch discovered in a bag of donations at a west London charity shop has sold for nearly £10,000. The Tank Française yellow gold model set a record as the British Heart Foundation's (BHF) biggest online auction sale.
The watch was found at a BHF branch in Hounslow and verified as authentic at the charity's eBay warehouse in Leeds. It was then double-checked by experts at an independent auction house.
Kama Villiers, enterprise customer success manager at Shopiago, the BHF's online shopping partner, said: 'When you consider the average value of an item donated to a charity shop is less than £5, finding a Cartier watch is like striking gold and winning the lottery at the same time. Whoever the generous donor was, they can rest assured that their donation will go a long way towards fighting heart disease.'
Cartier watches have been worn by celebrities including Jake Gyllenhaal, Angelina Jolie, Michelle Obama and Diana, Princess of Wales. In recent years, the BHF has sold a 7-inch vinyl demo of the Beatles' Love Me Do for £9,400 and a second-hand Mercedes Benz E320 for £7,502.
Richard Pallier, head of online retail at the BHF, said: 'It's only through the hugely generous donations of the public that we can continue to do this very important work.'
