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6d ago

Isidor Straus’s Titanic Pocket Watch Fetches Record £1.78 Million at UK Auction

The engraved timepiece recovered from the Macy’s co-owner after the 1912 sinking and kept by his descendants for generations underscores the premium placed on artifacts with documented personal histories.

The watch of Isidor Straus, recovered from his body after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
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Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, victims of the S. S. Titanic sinking. Taken from the memorial program, screened image.

Overview

  • Henry Aldridge & Son sold the 18-carat Jules Jurgensen pocket watch in Devizes, setting a new high for Titanic memorabilia and contributing to roughly £3 million in total auction sales.
  • The watch, gifted to Straus for his 43rd birthday in 1888, is engraved with his initials and reportedly stopped at 2:20 a.m., the moment the ship went under.
  • Recovered from Isidor Straus’s body and retained by the family for more than a century, the piece was later restored by his great-grandson Kenneth Hollister Straus.
  • The price eclipsed last year’s ~£1.56 million record for a different gold watch presented to the RMS Carpathia’s captain.
  • The buyer was not disclosed, and the watch is currently on exhibition at the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.