A gold pocket watch given to the captain who rescued the Titanic survivors is selling for a record price

A gold pocket watch given to the captain of the ship that rescued 700 survivors from the Titanic sold at auction for nearly $2 million, setting a record memorabilia from a shipwreck.

An 18-carat Tiffany & Co. watch. three surviving women are credited to Captain Arthur Rostron for diverting his passenger ship, the RMS Carpathia, to save them and others after the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the north Atlantic on its maiden voyage. trip in 1912.

Auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son, which sold the watch to a private collector in the United States on Saturday for 1.56 million British pounds, said it was the highest-paid piece. Titanic memorabilia. The price includes taxes and fees paid by the buyer.

The watch was given to Rostron by the widow of John Jacob Astor, a very wealthy man who died in the disaster and the widows of two other wealthy businessmen who went down with the ship.

Astor’s pocket watch, which was on his body when it was found seven days after the ship sank, previously set the record for the highest price paid for a Titanic keepsake, fetching nearly $1.5 million (1.17 million pounds) from the same house at auction in April.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the fact that Titanic memorabilia has hit two records this year shows the continued interest in the story and the dwindling supply and high demand for the ship’s goods.

“Every man, woman and child had a story to tell, those stories are told a hundred years later through memorials,” he said.

Rostron was hailed as a hero for his actions the night the Titanic sank and his crew were recognized for their bravery.

The Carpathia was sailing from New York to the Mediterranean Sea when a radio operator heard a distress call from the Titanic on the morning of April 15, 1912 and woke Rostron in his cabin. He turned his boat and headed towards the doomed ship, crossing the icebergs to get there.

By the time the Carpathia arrived, the Titanic had sunk and 1,500 people had died. But crews found 20 lifeboats and rescued more than 700 passengers back to New York.

Rostron was awarded the US Congressional Gold Medal by President William Howard Taft and later honored by King George V.

Madeleine Astor, who had been helped by her husband into a lifeboat, presented the watch to Rostron at a luncheon at his mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York.

The inscription says it was given “with heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the three survivors.” Lists Mrs. John B. Thayer and Mrs. George D. Widener next to Astor’s married name.

“It was presented primarily in recognition of Rostron’s courage in saving those lives,” Aldridge said. “Without Mr. Rostron, those 700 people would not have made it.”