Gold Pocket Watch of Titanic Rescuer Sells for Record £1.56 Million

An 18-carat gold pocket watch, presented to the British steamship captain credited with saving over 700 passengers from the Titanic, achieved a record-setting £1.56 million ($1.97 million) at auction. This Tiffany & Co timepiece was originally bestowed upon Sir Arthur Rostron, who was the captain of the passenger vessel RMS Carpathia at the time, by the survivors he rescued in 1912. Henry Aldridge and Son, the auction house located in Wiltshire, confirmed that this sum represents the highest price ever paid for an item of Titanic memorabilia. They also stated that a private collector based in the United States acquired the watch. The auctioneers further commented that the transaction highlights the “enduring fascination” associated with the doomed ocean liner. Sir Arthur diverted the Carpathia, which was en route from New York to Europe, upon its wireless operator receiving the distress signal: “we’ve struck ice, come at once”. The vessel proceeded at maximum speed, arriving in the North Atlantic on 15 April 1912, two hours after the Titanic had already submerged. The watch was presented to Sir Arthur by the widow of John Jacob Astor, who was the wealthiest individual aboard the Titanic, alongside two other widows of affluent businessmen who perished when the ship collided with an iceberg and disintegrated, resulting in the loss of over 1,500 lives among passengers and crew. The timepiece bears the inscription: “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”. According to the auction house, Sir Arthur accepted this gift from Mr. Astor’s wife during a luncheon held at the Astor family’s residence on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge commented, “It was presented principally in gratitude for Rostron’s bravery in saving those lives, because without Mr Rostron, those 700 people wouldn’t have made it.” The record for Titanic memorabilia was previously established in April of this year when a gold pocket watch, retrieved from the remains of Mr. Astor, fetched £1.175 million at the same Devizes-based auction house. Before that, a violin reportedly played as the ship went down held the record for the highest price paid for a Titanic artefact for 11 years, having sold for £1.1 million in 2013. Mr. Aldridge noted that the record being surpassed twice within the current year indicates an “ever-decreasing supply and an ever-increasing demand” for items connected to the ship.