As many of you likely took notice last week, Australian watch blog Time + Tide launched the ‘Watch & Act!’ World Watch Auction last Tuesday to support firefighting efforts against the raging bush fires currently sweeping the country. The auction, which is being hosted by Invaluable.com without fees, and which began last week at the start of the announcement, will be running until 9am AEST this Friday (6pm EST on Thursday, January 30).
The auction, which draws its name from the official bushfire threat level that precedes the order to evacuate an area, “Watch & Act,” features 16 watches from 14 brands, each with no reserve, and includes two unique models produced by Hublot and Zenith commemorating the effort as well as a number of rare vintage and modern watches.
Among the highlights you’ll find the Zenith Pilot Rescue ‘Australian Rescue’ Edition Unique Piece featuring a unique commemorative case back, and offering a sturdy appearance with its sunburst dark gray dial and bronze case. The auction also includes the Hublot Classic Fusion ‘Watch & Act’ Edition Unique Piece, also featuring a special case back, blue sunburst dial, and excellently finished ceramic and carbon fiber case.
The auction also offers the personal H.Moser & Cie Pioneer Centre Seconds watch of U2 bass player Adam Clayton, the now-unavailable Oris Divers Sixty-Five Limited Edition for Hodinkee, the Doxa SUB 200 130 Years Limited Edition, and a rare Baltic Watches Aquascaphe Prototype. Other watches include models from Rolex, Montblanc, TAG Heuer, Alpina, Rado, Frederique Constant, Bell & Ross, Seiko, and many other brands.
That Time + Tide was able to organize this expansive auction “after a couple of furiously busy weeks of behind-the-scenes planning,” according to the blog’s founder Andrew McUtchen, speaks to the urgency surrounding the fires, and the clear desire from an array of watch brands large and small to contribute in the fight against the present crisis.
As the threat of global climate change rises to nations and ecosystems across the planet, there has been a corresponding growth in charitable efforts by watch brands to contribute to the fight to save the planet. Oris has notably been a longtime charitable partner to various non-profits involved in ocean conversation, as has Blancpain with its Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment series. Time + Tide’s auction and the contributions by the participating brands represents a growing trend in corporate responsibility to help preserve vulnerable ecosystems from environmental disasters, and the relatively short turnaround of the project only further adds to the impressiveness of the charitable campaign.
One hundred percent of the money raised from the auction will be distributed across five charities: the Country Fire Authority in Victoria and the Rural Fire Service of New South Wales, which are two rural fire services groups; the Wildlife Victoria and the World Wildlife Fund, two wildlife rescue groups; and one fund, the Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund, which was recently created to benefit the southeast region of Victoria, which has been particularly hard-hit by the fires.
