High prices at auction of Titanic pieces: 1 million euros for gold watch

A gold watch belonging to reportedly the richest passenger on the Titanic has been sold at an auction in England. The expectation was that the timepiece would fetch more than 120,000 euros. The auctioneer hammered at more than 1 million euros.

The showpiece of the auction belonged to 47-year-old John Jacob Astor IV. He died in the ship disaster in 1912, which claimed the lives of around 1,500 people. When the ship sank, Astor helped his wife Madeleine into a lifeboat. He smoked a cigarette and spoke to another passenger. That was the last time he was seen. His body was found a week after the disaster. He was still carrying the 14-karat gold Waltham pocket watch with the initials JJA.

John Jacob Astor IV was an American businessman, real estate developer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War, writer and investor. In his time he was one of the richest people in the world and probably the richest man on the Titanic.

After the disaster, the watch went to his son Vincent Astor. He had it restored and gave it as a gift to the son of his father’s secretary. The watch remained in his family until the 1990s, after which it was purchased at auction by an unknown collector. Since then it has been on display in various museums.

The gold cufflinks, unused bank cheques, his first class map of the Titanic and a photo of Astor were also auctioned today, along with other items including a bag belonging to the ship’s orchestra leader, Wallace Hartley. The cufflinks raised 15,000 euros, the checks 2,600 euros and the map 28,000 euros.

The bag sold for 342,000 euros. Hartley used it to store his violin. Before he disembarked, he strapped the bag containing the violin around his body. He drowned, but the bag and violin survived the disaster. The violin raised 1.3 million euros in 2013.