A gold watch gifted to Titanic captain Arthur Rostron has sold for a record-breaking £1.56 million ($1.97 million). Auction house Henry Aldridge & Son has given this information. You must have seen the movie Titanic. This was a film based on a real incident. When the ship sank, the captain of the ship, Captain Arthur Rostron, heroically saved the lives of more than 700 passengers and crew. The 18-carat Tiffany & Co. pocket watch was given to Captain Arthur Rostron by the widows of three wealthy businessmen who died after the Titanic hit an iceberg on April 15, 1912, CNN reported.
These three survivors had gifted the watch
According to the news, Rostron had changed the route of his steamship RMS Carpathia during a voyage from New York to the Mediterranean after hearing distress calls from the sinking Titanic in 1912. This gold watch bears the inscription – Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of the three survivors of the Titanic, John B. Thayer, John Jacob Astor and George D. Widener, April 15, 1912. Astor's husband John Jacob Astor IV was reportedly the richest man aboard the Titanic, portrayed in James Cameron's 1997 film Titanic. He managed to get his pregnant wife into a lifeboat, but he died along with about 1,500 others.
No sign of interest in Titanic story waning
According to the auction house, the watch was presented to Rostron in recognition of his courageous actions at Astor's New York home on May 31, 1912, a year after the Titanic was launched. The previous record for a Titanic-related item sold at auction was also a pocket watch, which sold for £1.175 million ($1.485 million) earlier this year. For auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, the recent sales are a sign that interest in the Titanic story shows no signs of waning.
World record for price of souvenirs broken twice
The auctioneer said Sunday that the world record for the price of Titanic memorabilia has been broken twice this year, reflecting a steady decline in supply and a steady increase in demand for ship-related memorabilia. According to PA media, the watch was sold to a private collector in the US and the sale figure includes fees and taxes paid by the buyer.
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