A gold pocket watch, once owned by an elderly couple who tragically perished in the RMS Titanic, fetched an astonishing £1.78 million (around $2.3 million), marking a new record for items connected to the shipwreck.
Auctioneers revealed that the selling price of the watch, originally presented to the captain of the ship that saved over 700 survivors, has eclipsed last year’s record of £1.56 million. As reported by the Daily Mail.
A tabloid in London noted:
The 18-carat Jules Jurgensen watch was engraved and belonged to Isidore Strauss, a first-class passenger. The sorrowful tale of Strauss and his wife, Ida, became one of the notable stories of the 1912 disaster that claimed 1,500 lives.
The couple’s love story was depicted in James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic, where they are seen embracing as the ship goes under.
The watch was retrieved from Isidore Strauss’ body after responders recovered various belongings, while his wife’s remains were never discovered in the frigid North Atlantic waters.
Strauss, who co-owned the Macy department store, received the watch for his 43rd birthday in 1898, the same year he became a partner in a New York department store, eventually owning it entirely with his brother.
Strauss, an immigrant from Bavaria, also served briefly in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1894 to 1895.
On the fateful night, the affluent couple was on board the Titanic, which lacked enough lifeboats for all its passengers. It is reported that Strauss declined to take a seat, insisting he would wait until all the young men had been evacuated.
Ida also refused to leave her husband. They were last seen together in deckchairs as the mighty liner sank—an enduring tale of love amidst tragedy.
They were among the few first-class passengers to lose their lives on the vessel that had been heralded as “unsinkable.” A letter written by Ida on Titanic stationery also went for £100,000, or $130,000.
The Strauss watch was auctioned by Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers from Devizes, Wiltshire, England.
