A gold pocket watch, given to the captain of the British steamship that rescued over 700 passengers from the Titanic, was sold at auction for a record amount of $1.97 million. The watch, an 18-carat piece by Tiffany & Co, was presented to Sir Arthur Rostron by the survivors he rescued in 1912.
Unfortunately, Sir Arthur Rostron arrived a few hours after the Titanic had sunk in the North Atlantic waters. The item was a gift from the widow of the wealthiest passenger on the Titanic, John Jacob Astor, along with two other widows of wealthy businessmen. The watch is engraved with the inscription "Presented to Captain Rostron with the sincerest gratitude and appreciation from three Titanic survivors on April 15, 1912, Mrs. John Jacob Astor and Mrs. George D. Widener."
The auction house Henry Aldridge and Son from Wiltshire highlighted that this watch achieved the highest price ever paid for a Titanic memorabilia. Captain Rostron received the gift from John Jacob Astor's wife during a lunch at the family mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City, according to the auction house.
Sir Arthur Rostron, who was part of the crew of the RMS Carpathia, changed the ship's course, which was headed from New York to Europe, in response to the distress call captured by the ship's wireless operator after the collision with the iceberg. The watch was purchased by a private collector in the United States.
Andrew Aldridge, the auctioneer, commented: "It was presented mainly in gratitude for Rostron's bravery in saving those lives, because without Mr. Rostron, those 700 people would not have made it."
