Titanic’s pocket watch memorabilia fetches nearly $2 million in auction

International

THE golden pocket watch that was given to the captain who rescued over 700 survivors of the Titanic in 1912 has been auctioned for a whooping £1.56 million ($1.97 million).

This is the second pocket watch related to Titanic that was auctioned this year. The first one was sold for £1.175 million ($1.485 million)

Captain Arthur Rostron’s 18-carat Tiffany & Co. pocket watch was given to him by the widows of three wealthy businessmen who died along with over 1, 500 passengers aboard in the Titanic that sank on April 15, 1912.

“Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th, 1912 Mrs John B Thayer, Mrs. John Jacob Astor, and Mrs George D Widener.” written on the pocket watch.

The three surviving widows decided to gift Captain Rostron the watch to express how grateful they were for the courage and heroic action of Rostron when he decided to change the course of his passenger ship, RMS Carpathia while voyaging from New York to the Mediterranean after he got distress calls from the sinking ship of Titanic after the ship struck an iceberg causing it to sink in north Atlantic.

The watch was on John Jacob Astor IV’s body, the wealthiest man aboard the Titanic, whose body was recovered seven days after the ship was doomed into the Atlantic sea.

Astor managed to save his pregnant wife into the lifeboat, but he did not make it, making him one of those who perished.

His widow, Madeleine Astor, who survived the tragedy along with two other survivors, presented the watch to Rostron on May 31, 1912, at Mrs. Astor’s New York mansion.

Auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son said the watch was sold to a private collector in the United States. It is said to be the most paid memorabilia of Titanic.

Aldridge said this goes to show that the memorabilia of Titanic demonstrates the increasing demand and interest of people on the sunken ship.

The ill-fated Titanic was made into a movie in 1997 with the same name “Titanic” which starred Hollywood actors Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet.(LAO)