Gold Pocket Watch of Titanic Passenger May Set Auction Record

A gold pocket watch recovered from one of the wealthiest passengers aboard the Titanic is on track to become the most valuable artifact linked to the tragedy, according to experts.

This particular watch belonged to Isidore Strauss, a co-owner of Macy’s department store, who was on the ill-fated voyage in April 1912 with his wife, Ida. They had recently come back to New York after a European trip.

“Some accounts indicate they were last seen sitting on the deck together,” auctioneer Andrew Aldridge noted. In the film “Titanic,” they are shown lying side by side on a stateroom bed, which is a dramatic take.

Ida famously refused to leave her husband behind, saying, “My place is with you. I have lived with you; I love you, and if I must, I will die with you.”

A maid, on the other hand, was placed in a lifeboat and was given a fur coat for warmth.

According to Aldridge, “Isidore and Ida Strauss were prominent figures in society.”

Just days after the sinking, Strauss’s belongings were found in the Atlantic and returned to his son, Jesse.

Among these items was an 18K gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch, engraved with the initials “IS”.

This watch is said to have stopped at 2:20 a.m., right when the Titanic sank.

Ida is believed to have given this watch to Isidore for his 43rd birthday in 1888, and it features the date February 6, 1888, engraved on it.

That same year marked the beginning of Isidore and his brother Nathan’s partnership at Macy’s.

“In the early 20th century, pocket watches were immensely treasured by gentlemen,” Aldridge remarked. This particular watch represents a gift from one of the Titanic’s most renowned couples.

Describing the watch as “the prized personal possession of one of the Titanic’s significant figures,” he said it is one of the most exquisite and rare artifacts related to the ship.

The auction will also feature a letter Ida wrote to a family friend, dated April 10, 1912.

This letter, which has a Titanic header, was postmarked by the ship’s post office and was collected alongside other mail in Queenstown, Ireland.

Both the watch and the letter are being sold by a direct descendant of the Strauss family at Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire.

In her letter, Ida discussed an incident where the Titanic nearly collided with the SS New York in Southampton.

She noted, “Size seems to pose a problem. Mr. Strauss, who was on deck at the start, once remarked that it came alarmingly close to re-enacting the Olympic experience when we initially left port.”

She added that the danger was quickly avoided and they were “now well on our way across the Channel to Cherbourg.”

Aldridge mentioned that while the auction house has dealt with Titanic letters before, the condition of this particular letter is exceptional—detailed and colorful.

“The fact that it was postmarked means that the Titanic’s post office is incredibly rare and appealing to collectors,” he further explained.

In the past, items like John Jacob Astor’s gold pocket watch fetched nearly $1 million, while a watch awarded to the captain of the Carpathia, which rescued over 700 Titanic survivors, sold for approximately $1.8 million.

Additionally, Wallace Hartley’s violin, belonging to the Titanic’s bandmaster, garnered over $1.1 million in 2013.

This auction is scheduled for November 22nd.