Titanic couple’s gold pocket watch sells for record £1.78m at auction

A gold pocket watch recovered from an elderly couple who drowned during the sinking of the Titanic has sold for a record-breaking £1.78 million at auction.

It was the highest amount ever paid for Titanic memorabilia, the auctioneers said.

The previous record was set last year when another gold pocket watch presented to the captain of a boat which rescued more than 700 passengers from the liner sold for £1.56 million.

The 18-carat Jules Jurgensen engraved watch was owned by first class passenger Isidor Straus, who drowned when the ship sank in April 1912, costing 1,500 lives.

He and his wife Ida were portrayed in James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic film as the couple cradling each other as the Titanic goes down.

The watch was recovered from the body of Mr Straus along with other personal effects and returned to his family.

He had been given the watch in 1888 as a gift for his 43rd birthday – the same year he became a partner in New York department store Macy’s.

During the night of the sinking, the wealthy couple made their way to the Titanic’s boat deck.

When Mr Straus was offered a seat on a lifeboat due to his age, he replied that he would not go before other men.

Mrs Straus refused to leave her husband, and they were last seen alive sitting on deckchairs, facing fate by each other’s side.

They were among very few first class passengers to perish in the disaster.

The watch, which had remained in the family of Mr and Mrs Straus, was sold at auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire.

A letter written by Mrs Straus on Titanic stationery and posted while onboard the ship fetched £100,000.

A Titanic passenger list was bought for £104,000 and a gold medal awarded to the crew of the RMS Carpathia by rescued survivors sold for £86,000.

In total the auction of Titanic-related memorabilia reached £3 million on Saturday.

Born into a Jewish family in Otterberg, Bavaria, in 1845, Mr Straus emigrated to the US with his family in 1854.

In January 1912, he and his wife travelled on RMS Caronia to Jerusalem before returning to the US via Southampton on the Titanic.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “The world record price illustrates the enduring interest in the Titanic story.

“Every man, woman and child passenger or crew had a story to tell and they are told 113 years later through the memorabilia.

“The Strauses were the ultimate love story, Ida refusing to leave her husband of 41 years as the Titanic sank, and this world record price is testament to the respect that they are held in.”