Titanic passenger’s watch sets record at UK auction
A world record price has been set for Titanic memorabilia, with the sale of a gold pocket watch at a UK auction featuring mementos from the ill-fated ship.
Isador Strauss and the watch
A gold pocket watch recovered from an elderly couple who drowned during the sinking of the Titanic has sold for a record-breaking Stg1.78 million ($A3.61 million) at auction.
It was the highest amount ever paid for Titanic memorabilia, the auctioneers said.
The previous record was set last year when another gold pocket watch presented to the captain of a boat which rescued more than 700 passengers from the liner sold for Stg1.56 million ($A3.16 million).
The 18-carat Jules Jurgensen engraved watch was owned by first-class passenger Isidor Straus, who drowned when the ship sank on its maiden voyage from England to New York in April 1912, costing 1500 lives.
Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, were portrayed in James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic film as the couple cradling each other as the Titanic goes down.
The watch was recovered from the body of Isidor Straus along with other personal effects and returned to his family.
He had been given the watch in 1888 as a gift for his 43rd birthday – the same year he became a partner in New York department store Macy’s.
During the night of the sinking, the wealthy couple made their way to the Titanic’s boat deck.
When Isidor Straus was offered a seat on a lifeboat due to his age, he replied that he would not go before other men.
Ida Straus refused to leave her husband and they were last seen alive sitting on deckchairs, facing fate by each other’s side.
They were among the very few first-class passengers to perish in the disaster.
The watch, which had remained in the family, was sold at auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire.
A letter written by Ida Straus on Titanic stationery and posted while onboard the ship fetched Stg100,000 ($A202,846).
A Titanic passenger list was bought for Stg104,000 ($A210,960) and a gold medal awarded to the crew of the RMS Carpathia by rescued survivors sold for Stg86,000 ($A174,448).
In total the auction of Titanic-related memorabilia reached Stg3 million ($A6.1 million) on Saturday.
Born into a Jewish family in Otterberg, Bavaria, in 1845, Isidor Straus emigrated to the US with his family in 1854.
In January 1912, he and his wife travelled on RMS Caronia to Jerusalem before returning to the US via Southampton on the Titanic.
“The world record price illustrates the enduring interest in the Titanic story,” Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said.
“The Strauses were the ultimate love story, Ida refusing to leave her husband of 41 years as the Titanic sank, and this world record price is testament to the respect that they are held in.”
