Gold watch owned by richest Titanic passenger sells for record-breaking $2M
Global News
The 14-carat gold pocket watch formerly belonged to the Titanic's richest passenger, businessman John Jacob Astor IV, who died during the ship's sinking.
Even before it sank, the RMS Titanic was a symbol of wealth and luxury. Today, it remains so, with many artifacts recovered from the wreckage the subject of bidding wars.
On Saturday, a 14-carat gold pocket watch formerly belonging to the Titanic’s richest passenger was auctioned in Wiltshire, England for £1.175 million (about C$2 million).
The auction house said the watch, engraved with the initials of its former owner, businessman John Jacob Astor IV, fetched the highest-ever price for a piece of Titanic memorabilia. The watch was recovered from Astor’s body days after he died, when the Titanic hit an iceberg on April 14, 1912.
Auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son sold the pocket watch to an anonymous buyer from the U.S. for £900,000 (more than C$1.5 million), though taxes and fees pushed the purchase past the million-pound mark.
The watch was originally estimated to sell for between £100,000 (about C$171,500) and £150,000 (nearly C$257,300).
After it was retrieved from Astor’s body, the watch was restored and worn by his son Vincent, the auction house revealed.
Henry Aldridge & Son called the pocket watch “a unique part of the Titanic story and one of the most important pieces of horological history relating to the most famous ship in the world.”
A copy of a baptismal certificate belonging to William Dobbyn V, Astor’s executive secretary, was included in the auction lot. Vincent’s signature is on the certificate.
