A gold pocket watch recovered from one of the wealthiest passengers of the Titanic has sold for a record-breaking $2.25 million at auction, driven by the enduring fascination with the liner’s tragic sinking and the poignant love story of its owner.
The 18-karat gold Jules Jurgensen watch belonged to Isidor Straus, co-owner of the Macy’s department store in New York City. It fetched 1.78 million British Pounds ($2.25 million) at an auction held last Saturday by Henry Aldridge and Son in Wiltshire, England.
This sale shattered the previous world record for Titanic memorabilia. Auction manager Andrew Aldridge noted the price reflects continuous global interest in the Titanic’s story.
Straus, a Bavarian-American millionaire, was among the more than 1,500 people who perished when the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on April 14, 1912. He was traveling from Southampton, England, to New York with his wife, Ida Straus.
The couple’s devotion is central to the watch’s record value. Ida Straus famously refused a seat on a lifeboat, choosing to remain with her husband of 41 years. She reportedly declared she would die alongside him. Her body was never found.
Mr. Aldridge called the Straus’s story “one of the greatest love stories.” He added that the record price is a testament to the respect people hold for them.
The watch was retrieved from Mr. Straus’s body several days after the disaster. It still bore his engraved initials. Historians believe it was a 43rd birthday gift from his wife in 1888.
The timepiece stopped at 2:20 a.m., the exact moment the Titanic plunged beneath the waves. The watch was returned to the Straus family and passed through generations. His great-grandson, Kenneth Hollister Straus, eventually had its internal mechanism repaired and restored.
The recent auction saw total sales of Titanic-related items reach 3 million British Pounds ($3.78 million). Other significant lots included a letter written by Ida Straus on Titanic stationery, selling for 100,000 British Pounds ($126,000).
A record of the Titanic passenger list went for 104,000 British Pounds ($131,040). A gold medal given by survivors to a crew member of the rescue ship RMS Carpathia sold for 86,000 British Pounds ($108,360).
The previous world record for a Titanic artifact was held by a gold pocket watch. That watch, presented to the captain of the Carpathia, sold last year for 1.56 million British Pounds ($1.97 million).