Titanic rescue captain's gold watch sells for record £1.56 million at auction
A gold pocket watch, once gifted to Captain Sir Arthur Rostron in gratitude for his heroic role in rescuing over 700 Titanic survivors, has sold for a record £1.56 million ($1.97 million) at auction.
The 18-carat Tiffany & Co. timepiece, presented to Rostron by three Titanic survivors, became the most expensive piece of Titanic-related memorabilia ever sold.
The auction, held by Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, saw the watch purchased by a private collector in the United States.
Sir Arthur Rostron, then captain of the RMS Carpathia, became a hero when he changed course to race to aid the Titanic after the passenger ship struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912.
Despite the Carpathia being over 50 miles away, Rostron and his crew managed to reach the scene two hours after the Titanic sank, saving more than 700 passengers.
The gold watch was presented to Captain Rostron by three women who had survived the disaster, including the widow of millionaire passenger John Jacob Astor. The other two women were also widows of wealthy businessmen who perished on the Titanic.
The timepiece carries a heartfelt inscription from the three women: "presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912 Mrs John B Thayer, Mrs John Jacob Astor and Mrs George D Widener”.
According to the auction house, the watch was given to Rostron at a lunch at the Astor family's mansion in New York City, in recognition of his bravery and leadership during the rescue operation.
"It was presented principally in gratitude for Rostron’s bravery in saving those lives because, without Mr Rostron, those 700 people wouldn’t have made it," Aldridge was quoted by the BBC.
