Gold pocket watch recovered from wealthy deceased Titanic passenger sells for record $1.5 million.

The sinking of the Titanic after striking an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912 remains one of the most famous tragedies of the 20th century. More than 100 years later, it still captivates Titanic historical societies in the United States and Britain, as well as auctions dedicated entirely to Titanic memorabilia. A pocket watch belonging to American business magnate John Jacob Astor IV, recovered from his body after the disaster, sold recently for £1.175 million, or about $1.5 million, the highest price paid for a piece of Titanic memorabilia, at Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd. in Wiltshire, England.

The record-breaking item, a 17-jewel Waltham pocket watch, features Astor’s initials, JJA, engraved on the 14-karat gold case. Astor, believed to be the richest person aboard the star-crossed Titanic, was the great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, who made a fortune in fur trading, bought land in Manhattan, and became the first multi-millionaire in the U.S. John Jacob Astor IV kept up his family’s work in real estate, with the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel as possibly his most famous accomplishment.

Astor was 47 when he married 18-year-old socialite Madeleine Talmage Force in 1911. The marriage was met with shock and disapproval: Astor’s first wife, Ava, had divorced him for adultery, and his new bride was younger than Astor’s son. To escape the scandal, the newlyweds went for an extended honeymoon in Europe and Egypt. When Madeleine discovered she was pregnant, they decided to return home—in a luxury suite on the Titanic.

When the ship hit the iceberg, Astor initially thought there wasn’t any danger. He soon realized he was wrong, and when the evacuation started, he helped Madeleine into a lifeboat and asked if he could join her. He was told the women and children had to be evacuated first. Madeleine survived, but Astor, with his pocket watch on him, was one of the 1,500 who died in the tragedy.

The watch was found when Astor’s body was recovered several days after the Titanic sank. After the watch was retrieved, it was given to his son, Vincent, who had it restored and gave it to the son of his family’s secretary as a christening gift. The auction lot included copies of the baptismal certificate, a photograph of Vincent Astor, and a letter from Madeleine Astor.

The previous record for Titanic memorabilia, also sold by Henry Aldridge & Son, was £1.1 million pounds, or about $1.4 million dollars, for the violin that played as the ship sank. It sold in 2013. The case to that violin sold at the same auction as Astor’s watch for £290,000, or about $360,000. A first-class menu from the ship sold for $102,000 in November 2023.

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