Image source, BNBS
-
- author, Ross Mackey
- Author title, BBC, Belfast
A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of one of the richest passengers on the Titanic has sold for a record $2.33 million at auction.
Isidore Strauss and his wife Ida were among more than 1,500 people who died when the ship sailing from Southampton, England, to New York capsized after colliding with an iceberg on April 14, 1912.
His body was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean days after the disaster and among his personal items was an 18-karat gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch.
The watch, which was owned by the Strauss family, was sold on Saturday at the Henry Aldridge & Son auction house, in Devizes, Wiltshire, western England.
Image source, Getty Images
Strauss was a Bavarian-born American businessman and politician and co-owner of Macy’s department store in New York.
On the night of the shipwreck, it is believed that his devoted wife refused a position on one of the lifeboats because she did not want to leave her husband, expressing her desire to die by his side.
Ida Strauss’s body was never found.
A letter Ms. Strauss wrote on Titanic stationery and sent while on board the luxury ship, which was built in Belfast, fetched the equivalent of $130,000 at the same auction.
The auction of Titanic-related items reached a total of US$3.92 million.
Image source, BNBS
It has been repaired and restored
The watch stopped at 02:20, the moment the Titanic disappeared beneath the waves.
It is believed to have been a gift from Ida Strauss to her husband on his 43rd birthday in 1888, and is engraved with her initials.
It was returned to his family and passed from generation to generation until Kenneth Hollister Strauss, Isidore’s grandson, repaired and restored the mechanism.
Image source, BNBS
“The ultimate love story”
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge noted that the watch’s “world record price” “demonstrates the enduring interest in the story of the Titanic.”
“Every man, woman and child passenger or crew member had a story to tell, and 113 years later it is still being told through memorabilia,” he added.
“The Strauss family was the ultimate love story, with Ida refusing to give up her husband of 41 years when the Titanic sank, and this world record price is a testament to the respect in which the couple is held.”
A gold watch given to the captain of the steamship Carpathia, which rescued more than 700 Titanic survivors, sold last year for a record $2.04 million.
Image source, BNBS
Subscribe here Join our new newsletter to receive a selection of our best content of the week every Friday.
And remember, you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate it.
About The Author
