A gold watch gifted to the captain of a ship which rescued more than 700 passengers and crew from the Titanic has sold for a record-breaking £1.56 million ($1.97 million).
The 18-carat Tiffany & Co. pocket watch was given to Captain Arthur Rostron by the widows of three wealthy businessmen who died when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg, auction house Henry Aldridge & Son told CNN on Sunday.
Rostron changed the course of his steamship RMS Carpathia during a journey from New York to the Mediterranean in 1912 after hearing distress calls from the sinking Titanic.
The watch bears the inscription: “Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912 Mrs John B Thayer, Mrs John Jacob Astor and Mrs George D Widener.”
Mrs Astor’s husband John Jacob Astor IV was the richest man aboard the Titanic, famously depicted in James Cameron’s 1997 film “Titanic.” He managed to get his pregnant wife into a lifeboat, but he died alongside around 1,500 others.
Rostron was presented with the watch to recognize his courageous actions at Mrs. Astor’s New York mansion on May 31, 1912, one year after the Titanic’s launch, according to the auction house.
The previous record for a Titanic-related object sold at auction was also a pocket watch, which sold for £1.175 million ($1.485 million) earlier this year.
For auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, the latest sale is a sign that interest in the story of the Titanic shows no sign of slowing down.
“The fact the world record price for Titanic memorabilia has been broken twice this year demonstrates the ever-decreasing supply and an ever-increasing demand for memorabilia related to the ship,” he told CNN on Sunday.
The watch was sold to a private collector in the US and the sale figure includes fees and taxes paid by the buyer, according to PA media.