A gold watch found with the body of the Titanic’s richest passenger sold at auction on Saturday for 1.175 million pounds (1.37 million euros), a record for an object related to the famous ship, according to the auction house , writes AFP, quoted by Agerpres.
This amount, paid by an American buyer, blew away the £100,000 to £150,000 (€116,000 to €175,000) estimate published before the sale.
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It beats the previous auction record for a Titanic artefact of £1.1m, set in 2013 for a violin, according to the auction house.
The violin case sold for £360,000 (€420,000) on Saturday in the same auction as the watch.
The watch belonged to the American businessman John Jacob Astor
Engraved with the initials JJA, it belonged to the 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.
Considered one of the richest men in the world at the time, with a fortune of $87 million, which today would be several billion dollars, he sank the ship after seeing his new wife, Madeleine, board aboard a lifeboat.
He was depicted in his final moments smoking a cigarette in the company of another passenger, the American writer Jacques Futrelle, both of whom were among the 1,500 dead on the Titanic.
His body was found on April 22, 1912, along with his 14 karat gold pocket watch.
“The watch was fully restored after it was returned to John Jacob Astor’s family and worn by his son, making it a unique piece of Titanic history and one of the most important pieces of horological history associated with the world’s most famous ship.” pointed out the auction house.
Publisher: BC
Tags: watch richest passenger Titanic sold auction record amount John Jacob Astor
