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Macy’s Co-Owner Isidor Straus’s Titanic Gold Watch Heads to Auction With Seven-Figure Estimate

Auctioneers cite verified family provenance, drawing strong international interest.

Overview

  • The 18-carat Jules Jurgensen pocket watch, recovered from Straus’s body after the 1912 sinking, will be auctioned on November 22 by Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire.
  • The timepiece is engraved with Straus’s initials and is reported to have stopped at 2:20 a.m., around when the Titanic went under.
  • Direct descendants are selling the watch for the first time, and great‑grandson Kenneth Hollister Straus had its movement repaired and restored.
  • Price expectations reported by outlets range from about £800,000 to roughly $1.3 million for the watch, with a rare letter by Ida Straus estimated at around £150,000.
  • The sale is positioned to rank among the most valuable Titanic artifact auctions to date, with the auction house noting substantial interest from collectors worldwide.