The pocket watch that belongs to you Isidore Straussa first class passenger TitanicA. arrived Register the number in the auction In the United Kingdom. The piece, which was recovered from the businessman’s body after the ship sank, has been sold for the highest price ever paid for a piece linked to the famous ship.
the hour 18 karat gold Manufactured by Jules Jurgensen, it has a history spanning more than a century. Strauss received it as a gift for his forty-third birthday in 1888, the same year he became a partner in the famous Macy’s department store in New York.
The Titanic tragedy turned it into an object full of symbolism: the only valuable property recovered after the death of a couple who decided not to separate in the face of disaster, according to reports. NBC News.
Isidore and Ida Strauss They boarded the Titanic at Southampton, bound for the United States, after a voyage through Europe. They have been married for 41 years.
Surviving witnesses stated that during the evacuation, Isidore was given a place on a lifeboat due to his advanced age, although he refused it in order to give it up to other men. Ida refused to leave him alone.
The couple was last seen hugging each otherHe stands on the deck as the ship tilts toward the North Atlantic. His story has inspired several film adaptations, including James Cameron’s 1997 version.
As stated NBC NewsThe watch remained in the hands of the Strauss family for more than 100 years, until the auction was held by Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, England.
In it, the record auction was reached, where they paid the price of the watch 1.78 million pounds, something like that $2.32 million.
The event brought together other items associated with the shipwreck, such as a letter written by Ida Strauss from the ship, a list of passengers’ names and a gold medal awarded to the crew of the RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued more than 700 survivors. In total, The sale value exceeded 3 million pounds ($3.92 million)..
“Every man, woman and child has a story,” said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, highlighting the emotional power of this collection.
As he explained, the value of these pieces depends not only on their rarity, but also on how important their owners are.
In Strauss’s case, the symbolic pregnancy was considered exceptional, given that their story appears in practically all accounts of the Titanic.
Until now, the record was held by another gold watch linked to the shipwreck salvage, which sold last year for £1.56 million.