The richest passenger on the Titanic’s gold pocket watch sold for a record amount

On Sunday, April 28, the gold pocket watch that was taken from the richest passenger on the Titanic sold for six times the asking price. It brought in a record £900,000 (about Rs 9.41 crore). It was identical to another Titanic relic, but the total cost increased to £1.175 million (about Rs. 12.29 crore) when taxes and fees were included in the estimate. Before it was put up for sale in Wiltshire, the watch, which belonged to industrialist John Jacob Astor, was projected to fetch £150,000 (about Rs 1.5 crore).

The watch’s overall worth, according to auctioneer Andrew Aldrige, is “world record” for any artifact taken from the sunken Titanic. The highest price ever paid for a Titanic artifact was Rs 9.41 crore for a violin, which increased to £1.1 million (Rs 11.5 crore) when taxes and other fees were deducted.

Astor, 47, is said to have had his last cigarette and placed his wife Madeleine in a lifeboat before he was swept down with the ship, according to the BBC article. The British Titanic Society’s president, David Bedard, said that although many of the Titanic’s timepieces were lost on that terrible night, Mr. Astor’s son Vincent was able to fix and win Astor’s watch.

David Bedard said, “It’s amazing to be able to see J.J. Astor’s watch and know that it was in his pocket when he stepped back, knowing he wasn’t going to survive, and put his young, pregnant bride in a lifeboat.”

Every fatality from the tragic Titanic sinking has a tale. At an auction, a violin case that belonged to the guy who conducted the orchestra on deck when the ship sank in 1912 also brought approximately Rs 3.82 crore. It belonged to Wallace Hartley of Colne, Lancashire, who serenaded the passengers as the ship sunk with music performed by him and his band. Harley returned his violin to its leather valise, which he fastened to himself—possibly for buoyancy—before going down with the ship.

Managing director Andrew Aldridge of Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes said, “There are more than 2,200 people on that ship, so there are more than 2,200 subplots and 2,200 chapters to the story.” He went on to say that the Titanic is maybe the most well-known ship to have ever sailed.