A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of the richest man on the Titanic has broken records by selling for a staggering £1.175million. The 14-carat Waltham timepiece belonged to American hotelier John Jacob Astor IV, who tragically perished along with more than 1,500 others when the supposedly unsinkable ship struck an iceberg in 1912.
John Jacob Astor IV went down with the ship after ensuring his pregnant wife Madeleine boarded a lifeboat. His initials, JJA, are engraved on the watch, which was later restored by his son Vincent. The watch sparked a bidding war and ended up fetching almost eight times its estimated value, making it the most valuable piece of Titanic memorabilia ever sold.
The auction of Titanic-related items, held at Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, also saw the sale of the violin played by Wallace Hartley, the liner’s bandmaster, for £1.1million in 2013. Additionally, the leather case that protected Hartley’s violin from the icy waters of the Atlantic sold for £360,000.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described the prices as “absolutely incredible” and noted that they reflect the ongoing fascination with the Titanic story. Other notable sales included a 32ft plan of the Titanic used in the official inquiry, which sold for £195,000 last year, and a fur coat worn by survivor Mabel Bennett, which fetched £181,000 in 2017. The legacy of the Titanic continues to captivate and resonate with collectors and enthusiasts around the world.
