ICONIC POCKET WATCH FROM TITANIC PASSENGER SELLS FOR INCREDIBLE $2 MILLION AT AUCTION

A gold pocket watch that belonged to one of the most well-known passengers on the Titanic recently sold at auction at Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd. for £1.78 million ($2.3 million). Isidor Straus, an American politician, businessman, and owner of the Macy's department store in New York, owned the 18-carat gold Jules Jurgensen watch. The watch, which was given to him on his 43rd birthday in 1888 by his cherished wife Ida, froze at 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the day the pair tragically sank with the sinking ship.

The story of Isidor and Ida was depicted in James Cameron's Oscar-winning Titanic, when the pair decided to stay together while the ship sank. According to historical records, Isidor was offered a spot on a lifeboat due to his advanced age, but he declined, stating he would not board until all women and children were secure. Refusing to leave his side, Ida left her seat and fur coat to her maid after almost getting into a lifeboat herself. The duo was last spotted hand in hand as they sat on deck chairs amid the mayhem that was taking place all around them.

Before the current auction on November 22, Isidor's pocket watch was given to his family after it was discovered with his body. According to Andrew Aldridge, managing director of Henry Aldridge & Son, "pocket watches are quite personal products." "Every man, woman, kid, and member of the crew or passengers had a story to share, and it is revealed 113 years later through the items they possessed." Things like this preserve the narrative and help us remember one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century.

Just a year after another pocket watch, given to the captain of the RMS Carpathia by the widow of John Jacob Astor and two other survivors as a thank you for their rescue, was sold for £1.175 million ($1.5 million) at the same auction house in April 2024, the sale set a new record for Titanic artefacts.

Ida Straus's letter from the Titanic, which included the uncommon TransAtlantic7 postmark, also brought £122,500 ($161,893) at auction. Ernest Tomlin, a third-class passenger on the ship, had a diary retrieved from his possessions that sold for £39,200 ($51,805) at the auction, and a five-page letter detailing his experiences on the ship sold for £26,950 ($35,619). 

Aldridge added, “Some of the prices seen at this sale indicate the continued fascination with this amazing story.”