This Saturday, April 27, the gold watch found on the body of the Titanic’s richest passenger was sold at auction by the British auction house Henry Aldridge & Son. The item reached the record amount of 1.175 million pounds sterling, or 1.37 million euros.
A record sale. This is the first time that an object from the Titanic has reached such a high price. This Saturday, April 27, the gold watch of the richest passenger on the famous boat was sold at auction for the sum of 1.175 million pounds sterling (1.37 million euros) by the British house Henry Aldridge & Son.
Its new buyer, an American, shattered the initial estimate which was 100,000 to 150,000 pounds sterling (116,000 to 175,000 euros). This purchase surpassed the previous record set in 2013 with the sale of a violin for 1.1 million pounds sterling (1.3 million euros).
A famous businessman’s watch
The gold watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to American businessman John Jacob Astor, who died at the age of 47 in the sinking of the Titanic in the early hours of April 15, 1912. His remains were found a week after the sinking. In his pockets he had several valuable items, including this 14-karat gold watch. His young wife Madeleine was able to board a lifeboat and survived.
John Jacob Astor was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world. His fortune was then estimated at 87 million dollars, or several billion dollars today.
“The watch was completely restored after being returned to the family” of John Jacob Astor “and worn by his son, making it a unique piece of Titanic history and one of the most important pieces of the “history of watchmaking relating to the most famous ship in the world,” underlined the auction house.
During this sale, the case of the famous violin was also sold for 360,000 pounds sterling or 420,000 euros.