The gold watch that belonged to the richest passenger on the Titanic, who died in the sinking, has set a new record at an auction. It was sold for almost 2 million euros.
Again. After having already established a sales record last April, the watch that belonged to the richest passenger on the Titanic once again exploded the counters during an auction organized last weekend by the house of Henry Aldridge & Son.
This gold coin found on the body of American businessman John Jacob Astor, seven days after the sinking of the Titanic on the night of April 14 to 15, 1912, was sold for nearly 2 million euros. It therefore dethrones its own record for the highest price paid for a Titanic souvenir, only seven months after having already been sold for 1.175 million euros, reports the American agency Associated Press.
Highly symbolic, the watch signed Tiffany & Co was given by the widow of John Jacob Astor and two other survivors of the shipwreck like her, to the captain of the liner Arthur Rostron, who in 1912 had diverted his ship to come to the aid of the passengers of the Titanic after his distress call, saving the lives of more than 700 people.
A rare postcard sold for nearly 24,000 euros
Among the other pieces put up for sale, a postcard sent by a first class passenger three days before the sinking of the liner was sold for 20,000 pounds sterling, or nearly 24,000 euros.
Written by Richard William Smith and sent on April 11 from Ireland, this missive was considered “extremely rare” by Andrew Aldridge, the managing director of the auction company Henry Aldridge & Son, cited by the BBC.
“I had a good trip to Queenstown. I am getting ready to leave for the land of stars and stripes,” noted at the time this first class passenger, who died when the ship sank after its collision with an iceberg.
“It’s an incredibly powerful and poignant message. He had no idea what was on the horizon about 80 hours later,” said Andrew Aldridge. For the record, 1,500 people died during this tragic accident. Only 711 passengers survived.
