Amount paid at auction is highest ever for memorabilia related to ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1912
The 18-carat gold pocket watch was given to Captain Rostron by three widows of high-profile and wealthy businessmen who were lost when the Titanic sank.The 18-carat gold pocket watch was given to Captain Rostron by three widows of high-profile and wealthy businessmen who were lost when the Titanic sank.A gold pocket watch presented to the captain of a steamship which rescued more than 700 passengers from the Titanic has sold for a record-breaking £1.56m.
The previous record was set in April, when another gold pocket watch, recovered from the body of the richest man on the ship, John Jacob Astor, sold for £1.175m.Astor was 47 when he went down with the ship in 1912, after seeing his new wife Madeleine on to a lifeboat. The 18-carat Tiffany & Co timepiece bears an inscription reading “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”.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “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.”He added: “For historians, they are very interested in the nuts and bolts of Titanic, if you like. She’s 882ft long, she weighs 46,000 tons, etc, etc, etc.
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