Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd.
The sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, is one of the most famous tragedies of the 20th century. But we can’t forget that the stories surrounding it also tell of remarkable acts of bravery, heroism, and survival. A gift given to one of the greatest heroes, an 18K gold watch, just sold in England for £1.56 million (nearly $2 million in US currency), breaking the record for Titanic memorabilia.
The Tiffany & Co. watch was a gift from three survivors, all widows of wealthy businessmen who had died on the ship, to Arthur Rostron, captain of the RMS Carpathia, whose crew saved more than 700 Titanic passengers. The Carpathia was on its way to New York when the distress call from the Titanic came. Capt. Rostron’s decision to turn the ship around and answer the call, as well as his quick response and successful care for the survivors, made him a major hero of that night. Now, more than one hundred years later, auction house Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd., a specialist in Titanic artifacts, handled its record-breaking sale in an auction on Nov. 16.
The previous record was £1.175 million, or about $1.5 million, for a 14-karat gold Waltham pocket watch sold by Aldridge on April 27 of this year. That watch had belonged to John Jacob Astor IV, who was carrying it when he went down with the ship. Astor’s widow was one of the three women who gave the Tiffany & Co. watch to Capt. Rostron. According to Aldridge, Mrs. Astor presented the watch to the captain at her mansion in New York in May 1912.
A pocket watch belonging to another Titanic victim, Sinai Kantor, sold for $57,000 at Heritage Auctions in 2018. This watch was later sold again by Aldridge in 2023 for $119,000. Other lots in the auction included a first-class dinner menu, a deck blanket and more artifacts from the ill-fated voyage. Each of these artifacts carries the stories of the passengers and crew of the Titanic, of the shipwreck’s survivors and victims and their families. No wonder they continue to fascinate collectors and keep setting records.
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