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Pocket watch of business magnate who died in Titanic sinking to be auctioned

Admin, The UK Times
26 Apr 2024 • 04:52 pm
Pocket watch of business magnate who died in Titanic sinking to be auctioned

14-carat gold watch belonging to John Jacob Astor, reportedly richest passenger onboard ill-fated liner, may fetch up to £150,000

A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of the wealthy organization tycoon John Jacob Astor, that went down with the Titanic, is expected to fetch up to ₤ 150,000 at public auction.

The 14-carat gold Waltham pocket watch, engraved “JJA”, was located when Astor’s body was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean seven days after the sinking of the lining, which hit an iceberg on its maiden trip to New York in 1912.

John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor

Astor, reputedly the wealthiest man onboard the ship and a prominent member of the Astor household, had actually safely seen his expectant 2nd better half Madeleine into a lifeboat. He was last seen smoking cigarettes a cigarette and talking with a fellow guest.

The watch is tipped to bring in between ₤ 100,000 and ₤ 150,000 when it goes under the hammer at auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Boy in Devizes, Wiltshire, on Saturday.

” Astor is popular as the richest guest aboard the RMS Titanic and was thought to be among the richest people in the world at that time, with a net worth of roughly $87m– equal to a number of billion dollars today,” said the auctioneer Andrew Aldridge.

” At 11.40 pm on April 14 1912 the Titanic hit an iceberg and started to handle water. In the beginning, Astor did not believe the ship remained in any major threat yet later on it was apparent she was sinking and the captain had actually started an evacuation after twelve o’clock at night, so he aided his wife right into lifeboat 4.”

Astor’s wife made it through.

Astor was a great-grandson of the German-American fur-trader John Jacob Astor and Sarah Cox Todd, whose ton of money made the household among the richest in the United States.

A business owner, real estate programmer, investor and writer, he was identified by the initials stitch on the tag of his jacket. His kid, Vincent, declared the watch and passed it to the kid of his father’s executive secretary, William Dobbyn.

The Pocket Watch

The Pocket Watch

“The watch itself was totally recovered after being gone back to Mr Astor’s family and put on by his child, making it an unique part of the Titanic tale and one of one of the most important pieces of horological history relating to one of the most famous ship in the world,” Aldridge included.

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Published: 26th April 2024

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