Delight for Sight Action charity in Highlands as mystery man donates expensive Cartier bracelet likely to be worth thousands
It was an invitation to donate unloved jewellery of modest value to help a blind charity’s admirable aims.
So no one at Sight Action in Inverness could have envisaged being handed a genuine Cartier bracelet worth up to £10,000.
The glittering item of great value was casually handed in to the office among other gifts from a generous donor who didn’t even leave a name.
It was only when Gillian Mitchell, Sight Action’s executive manager, sifted through the bag of goods that she began to suspect the charity had hit the jackpot.
The organisation put out an appeal to around 3000 blind and visually-impaired adults it works with in the Highlands and Western Isles for jewellery to raise funds for much-needed sensory toys for blind babies.
It has been overwhelmed by the generosity of those clients, friends and families, with £1500 in cash donations also received.
But the star item so far – now stored safely away from the charity’s premises – blew them away.
Cartier is the 173-year-old French jewellery conglomerate, renowned across the world for luxury goods of fine craftsmanship.
“You look at it at first and think it can’t possibly be genuine. None of us here had ever seen, or held, a Cartier box or piece of jewellery,” Mrs Mitchell said. “It took us by surprise, to say the least!
“Looking online, at first we thought it was worth hundreds not thousands but, new, it is worth £10,000 and this one, while second hand, hasn’t a scratch on it.
“I spoke to the British auction house Christie’s last Friday and, if we go with them, it will be in next year’s June auction.
“It was handed in anonymously, along with other good pieces of jewellery, by a youngish, middle-aged chap. We’ve no way of contacting him as things stand.”
Sight Action, which raises all its own income, devised the appeal after its library of sensory toys ran low.
“Sensory toys mean an awful lot more to a blind baby than just a simple toy,” Mrs Mitchell explained. “A lot of early learning comes through vision. It is otherwise very difficult to stimulate a blind baby so we regularly lend out these specialised toys, which are not always cheap.
“People have been so generous and we would now love members of the wider public to contribute if they can.”
Sight Action, like sister charity Blindcraft, is part of the Highlands and Islands Society for Blind People, founded in 1868.
Anyone wishing to contribute to the jewellery appeal can contact the charity at 01463 233663 or email admin@highlandsensory.org.uk
