Gold watch found on the body of Titanic’s richest passenger sells for record price

A GOLD pocket watch recovered from the body of the richest man on the Titanic has sold for a record price of £1.175million.

The 14-carat gold Waltham watch, that belonged to business magnate John Jacob Astor, beat the £1.1million paid in 2013 for the violin played by the bandmaster of the Titanic to become the most valuable piece of memoribilia from the ship.

The leather case that protected Wallace Hartley’s violin from the freezing water of the Atlantic also sold at auction yesterday for £360,000.

Hartley placed the wooden instrument in the valise which he then strapped to his body, possibly for added buoyancy, as he plunged into the icy water. Hartley, like Astor, died in the 1912 disaster which claimed the lives of 1,522 people.

The two items were among dozens of Titanic-related pieces of memorabilia that went under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son of Devizes.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “The Astor watch has now become the most valuable piece of Titanic memorabilia ever sold, just beating the £1.1m paid for the violin over 10 years ago.

“It is a remarkable result. We expected the watch to sell for £150,000 but we had some incredible bidding on it and it eventually went to a US collector.

‘‘The results demonstrate the ongoing fascination of the Titanic story 112 years after she sank.”

On the night of the disaster, Astor, 47, saw his young, pregnant wife Madeleine into a lifeboat. But he was turned back by First Officer Charles Lightoller and rather than try his luck with another lifeboat, Astor was last seen smoking a cigarette on the starboard wing of the bridge wing chatting to a fellow first class passenger.

His body was recovered from the north Atlantic seven days later. His exquisite pocket watch, that was engraved J.J.A, was removed.

The timepiece, along with his £55m estate (£7bn today), was left to his 20-year-old son Vincent.