Glowing Swiss Watches and Fireworks

Vala Hafstað

The Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR) recently began selling Swiss watches in a fundraising effort. So far, ICE-SAR’s main fundraising has been through the sale of fireworks for New Year’s Eve and the annual sale of the Neyðarkall (‘rescue worker’) keychain.

ICE-SAR is a a nonprofit, noncommercial, volunteer-based organization that specializes in search and rescue services on land and at sea around the coast of Iceland. It operates close to 100 rescue units nationwide and has between four and five thousand active members.

According to the ICE-SAR website , the watches, made by Luminox, are ideal for Icelandic conditions. They are equipped with nanotechnology, which makes it possible for them to provide a constant 24/7 glow. That is sure to come in handy in a country where daylight is in short supply in the wintertime. The watches range in price for ISK 69,000 to 104,000 (USD 530-800; EUR 470-700).

mbl.is/Hari

“These are beautiful watches, and there is always interest in them,” states Kristján Þór Harðarson, managing director of ICE-SAR, which in Icelandic is called Landsbjörg. “We’re not selling truckloads of them, but many people are interested in them, since they’re of high quality.”

Preparations are underway for the annual fireworks sale, and they’ve been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Transport from China, in particular, proved quite complicated.

“With the help of good people and companies, we’ve managed to obtain what we ordered,” Kristján states. The last containers are expected next week.” That’s considerably later in the year than in an average year, giving volunteers less time than usually to get ready for the sale. Still, Kristján is convinced that it will all work out well. Fireworks will be for sale for three days prior to New Year’s Eve.

Although the cost of transporting the fireworks is up this year, Kristján states that their prices will not rise much. “The exchange rate was favorable,” he notes, “which counterweighed the rise in transport cost. Overall, we’re very pleased with how well we succeeded. The price increase will be well below ten percent, possibly about five percent.”

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