A gold pocket watch that belonged to Isidor Straus, a passenger who died on the Titanic, has sold for £1.78 million at auction, setting a new record for Titanic memorabilia. The 18-carat Jules Jurgensen watch was given to Straus as a gift on his 43rd birthday in 1888.
The previous record was held by a watch presented to the captain of the RMS Carpathia, which rescued over 700 Titanic survivors, selling for £1.56 million last year. Straus, a partner in Macy's department store, and his wife Ida were among the more than 1,500 people who perished when the ship sank in 1912.
According to reports, the couple were offered seats on lifeboats due to their age, but Straus declined, and Ida refused to leave him. They were last seen sitting on deckchairs together. The watch was later recovered from Straus's body and returned to his family.
The auction, held by Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, also included a letter written by Ida Straus on Titanic stationery, which sold for £100,000, a passenger list for £104,000, and a gold medal awarded to the Carpathia crew for £86,000. The total auction proceeds reached £3 million.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: 'The world-record price illustrates the enduring interest in the Titanic story. Every man, woman and child passenger or crew had a story to tell and they are told 113 years later through the memorabilia. The Strauses were the ultimate love story, Ida refusing to leave her husband of 41 years as the Titanic sank, and this world-record price is testament to the respect that they are held in.'
