Titanic passenger’s pocket watch fetches £1.78m at auction

A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of one of the richest passengers on the Titanic has sold at auction for a “record-breaking” £1.78 million.

Isidor Straus and his wife Ida were among more than 1,500 people who died when the ship en route from Southampton to New York hit an iceberg and sank on April 14, 1912.

His body was pulled from the Atlantic a few days after the disaster, and among his belongings was an 18-carat gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch.

The clock, which remained in the family of Mr and Mrs Straus, was sold at Henry Aldridge and Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, on Saturday.

Mr. Straus was a Bavarian-born American businessman, politician and co-owner of the Macy’s department store in New York.

It is thought that on the night of the sinking, his devoted wife refused to take a place in the lifeboat because she did not want to be separated from her husband and said she would rather die by his side.

Ida Straus’ body was never found.

A letter written by Ms Straus on Titanic stationery and posted while she was on the Belfast-built ship sold for £100,000 at auction.

The Titanic passenger list was bought for £104,000 and the gold medal awarded to the crew of the RMS Carpathia by rescued survivors was sold for £86,000.

A total of 3 million pounds was reached in the auction of Titanic-related memorabilia.

The pocket watch stopped at 02:20, the moment the Titanic disappeared beneath the waves.

It is believed to have been a 43rd birthday gift from Ida Straus to her husband in 1888, and is engraved with Straus’s initials.

It was returned to his family and passed down through the generations before Isidor’s grandson, Kenneth Hollister Straus, repaired and restored the mechanism.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the watch’s “world record price” “demonstrates the enduring interest in the Titanic story.”

“Every man, woman and child passenger or crew member had a story to tell, and they are being told through souvenirs 113 years later,” he added.

“The Strauses were the ultimate love story, with Ida refusing to leave her husband of 41 years as the Titanic sank, and this world record price is a testament to their respect.”

A. Gold pocket watch was presented to the Carpathian captainThe steamship that saved more than 700 Titanic survivors sold for a record-breaking £1.56 million last year.