Waltham watches belonged to the influential American businessman John Jacob Astor. When the auction company Henry Aldridge & Son came up for bids, their price was estimated at a maximum of 150,000 pounds (4.4 million CZK).
Their new owner was an unnamed private collector from the USA. That the final amount rose to several times higher than expected was described by auctioneer Andrew Aldridge as “absolutely unbelievable” and “a world record”, according to the BBC.
Astor himself died when the ship sank in April 1912. Before that, he helped his pregnant wife Madeleine into lifeboat number four.
He was last seen talking to another passenger with a lit cigarette without trying to get onto any of the overcrowded boats.
“Seeing JJ Astor’s watch and knowing he had it in his pocket when he loaded his young, pregnant bride into the lifeboat is remarkable. “At first he didn’t believe the boat was in serious danger, but then he backed away from the water and knew he wasn’t going to survive,” Aldridge said.
Astor was considered one of the richest men in the world at the time of the sinking of the Titanic. His fortune was estimated at $87 million, which would be the equivalent of several billion today.
Astor’s wife survived the disaster, while her husband’s body was found seven days later near the site in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank.
Astor’s son Vincent had the 14-carat watch engraved with the initials JJA restored and later bequeathed it to the son of one of his father’s employees.
By far the most expensive were violins
The most expensive item ever auctioned off the Titanic was a violin that was played while the ship was sinking. In 2013, they sold for £1.1 million (CZK 32.5 million) including taxes and fees.
The Titanic, heading from Southampton in southern England to New York, hit an iceberg on the night of April 14-15, 1912, and sank to the bottom after less than three hours. About 1,500 passengers and crew members did not survive the disaster.
The door that saved Rose on the Titanic was auctioned for almost 17 million
Cocktail
