A timely tribute has been paid to the soldiers of The Black Watch with the creation of a special wristwatch to help raise funds for veterans.
The Black Watch watch honours squaddies from what is now known as the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS).
The limited-edition piece, which costs around £55, was created by Canadian master watchmaker Robin Devine and features the regiment’s badge and tartan.
Ms Devine was inspired to honour the troops after visiting Scotland to watch her daughter graduate from St Andrews University.
She said: “I happened to be in Scotland when The Black Watch and the Argyll and Sutherlands were being decommissioned as regiments and I was extremely sad because my daughter, who is now 23, has been dressed in The Black Watch tartan since she was five years old she was a highland dancer when she was young.
“For the last 20 years I have been making all of the watch campaigns for the Canadian military for free. I’ve done this because the regiments were losing their history and they had no way of making a commemorative watch themselves because they are so small.
“When I made a 150th anniversary watch for The Black Watch in Canada I said I had to make the tartan strap.”
News of the Canadian Black Watch timepiece spread across the Atlantic and Robin was soon contacted by a Scottish veteran.
She said: “William Gunning, who is a member of the Black Watch Association, Fife Branch, heard about the watch, called to order a Canadian watch and asked if I could make one for the regiment in Scotland.
“I said yes because I had never done a campaign in Scotland before. The money from the watch will go back to the association to help needy Black Watch veterans.”
The cost of the watch has been kept as low as possible to ensure elderly veterans will be able to afford it.
“The watch is being sold in Canadian dollars, but when you include the tax and the postage it’s about £55,” said Robin.
“The strap alone is priceless and it’s not just that money is being raised for the veterans, it’s the ‘esprit de corps’ veterans can’t wear their medals every day but they can put on this watch with the tartan strap and show the world that they are Black Watch.”
Major Ronnie Proctor, secretary of The Black Watch Association, added: “We are really grateful to Robin for the kind and generous donation to our funds which go towards helping serving and retired members of the regiment in need.
“This is also more poignant as we approach the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War in 2014. The Black Watch Association was founded at the end of that war to help those in need from the regiment and its core aims have not changed since its foundation.”
For ordering information download the PDF at timeisticking.ca/blackWatchPoster.pdf