Cartier's Tank Francaise yellow gold model.
A Cartier watch discovered in a donation bag at a London charity shop has sold for nearly 10,000 pounds (Rs 10 lakh). The proceeds of the same will go to the British Heart Foundation, as per a report in the BBC. The Tank Francaise yellow gold model, which received 46 bids before selling for 9,766 pounds (Rs 9.8 lakh) set records as the charity's largest online auction sale.
The 18-carat gold timepiece, which was discovered in a branch in Hounslow, west London, was confirmed as a genuine Cartier item at the British Heart Foundation's eBay warehouse in Leeds before being further examined by professionals at a different auction house.
Kama Villiers, Enterprise Customer Success manager at Shopiago, the foundation's online shopping partner, told BBC, "When you consider the average value of an item donated to a charity shop is less than 5 pounds, finding a Cartier watch is like striking gold and winning the lottery at the same time."
She added that the "kind donor" should be confident that their contribution will make a significant difference in the fight against heart disease.
The British Heart Foundation took to Facebook and wrote, "The team at our Hounslow store were shocked to find a genuine Cartier watch in their donation box. The watch raised almost £10,000 for our lifesaving research at a recent auction on our eBay.co.uk site."
According to the outlet, celebrities including Princess of Wales, Diana, Jake Gyllenhall, Angelina Jolie and Michelle Obama have all been spotted wearing Cartier watches.
Richard Pallier, Head of Online Retail at the foundation, spoke to the BBC and said, "It's only through the hugely generous donations of the public that we can continue to do this very important work."