In reply to scon:
I dropped a swatch on Helvellyn near the summit, some years ago. A few years back, more than ten years after dropping the watch, I was talking to a stranger at an electronics car-boot near Newark and when I mentioned I lived in Cumbria he mentioned that he went hillwalking and mentioned Helvellyn.
At some point I mentioned losing the watch and he said "Funny that, I once found a watch right near the summit of Helvellyn....."
The following year I met him at the same event and he swung the watch in front of my face, complete with new battery!
A chance in 1000 million?
Post edited at 15:49