A gold pocket watch found on the body of the richest man on the Titanic has been sold to an American collector for a record £1.2 million.
The watch was sold to a private collector in the US at auction at Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, for the highest price ever for an item from the sunken Titanic, Hina reports.
The record price was previously held by a violin from the famous ship, which fetched £1.1 million.
It was sold by the same auction house in 2023.
Businessman John Jacob Astor sank on board in 1912 after taking his new wife Madeleine to a lifeboat.
Instead of trying to save himself in another boat, the impeccably dressed Astor, who was a prominent member of the wealthy Astor family, was last seen smoking a cigarette and talking to a fellow passenger.
His body was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean seven days later and his expensive 14k gold Waltham pocket watch engraved with JJA was found.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said Astor was known as the richest passenger on the RMS Titanic and was thought to be among the richest people in the world at the time, with a net worth of approximately US$87 million – the equivalent of several billion dollars today .
“The prices achieved for items from the Titanic are absolutely incredible,” said Aldridge.
