Titanic Passenger’s Gold Watch Sells for Record £1.78m at Auction
A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of wealthy Titanic passenger Isidor Straus has sold for a record £1.78m at an auction in Wiltshire.
Straus, a prominent American businessman and co-owner of Macy’s department store, died alongside his wife Ida when the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on 14 April 1912. His 18-carat Jules Jurgensen pocket watch was found on his body when it was recovered days later in the Atlantic.
The timepiece, which had remained in the Straus family for generations, went under the hammer at Henry Aldridge and Son Auctioneers on Saturday. The watch had stopped at 02:20 – the moment the ship disappeared beneath the water – and is believed to have been a 43rd birthday gift from Ida to her husband in 1888.
Ida Straus famously refused a place on a lifeboat, choosing to stay with her husband in what has long been remembered as one of the Titanic’s most enduring stories of devotion. Her body was never recovered.
The auction also featured several other pieces of Titanic memorabilia. A letter written by Ida on Titanic stationery sold for £100,000, a passenger list fetched £104,000, and a gold medal awarded to the crew of the rescue ship RMS Carpathia went for £86,000. In total, the sale reached £3m.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described the result as a reflection of the “enduring interest in the Titanic story,” adding that the Strauses’ legacy as “the ultimate love story” contributed to the watch’s exceptional value.
The previous record for Titanic-related timepieces was set last year when a gold pocket watch presented to the captain of the Carpathia sold for £1.56m.
