Overview
- The Straus family has consigned the 18-carat Jules Jurgensen pocket watch to Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes for a November 22 sale.
- The watch was recovered from Isidor Straus’s body after the 1912 sinking, bears his initials, and is believed to have been Ida Straus’s 1888 birthday gift to him.
- Reports say the timepiece stopped at 2:20 a.m., the minute the ship went under, with its movement later repaired by great-grandson Kenneth Hollister Straus.
- Pre-sale guidance varies from about £800,000 to over £1 million for the watch, with a separate onboard letter by Ida estimated at roughly £150,000.
- The Ida letter, written on Titanic stationery and postmarked “TransAtlantic 7,” describes the liner’s luxury, as the auction house cites strong global interest and recent record prices for Titanic memorabilia.