A gold watch belonging to the captain of the passenger ship who saved about 700 passengers when the Titanic sank in 1912 was sold at auction for 2.7 billion KRW. The watch is known to have been a gift from the survivors to the captain.
On the 17th (local time), the AP reported that the 18K Tiffany pocket watch gifted to Captain Arthur Rostron of the RMS Carpathia, who rescued Titanic passengers, was sold at auction for ?1.56 million (about 2.7 billion KRW).
The pocket watch gifted by a captain who saved 700 Titanic passengers from a survivor. Photo by AP Yonhap News
The watch was a gift from three survivors who were aboard the Titanic, expressing their gratitude to Captain Rostron. Madeleine Astor, a survivor, presented the watch to Captain Rostron during lunch at her mansion on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York. Madeleine was the wife of John Jacob Astor IV, a prominent American businessman.
The watch bears the names of Madeleine and other survivors, Mrs. John B. Thayer and Mrs. George D. Widener, along with the inscription "With the sincere gratitude of three survivors."
Captain Rostron, upon hearing the distress signal from the Titanic in the early morning of April 15, 1912, turned the Carpathia, which was heading to the Mediterranean, and rescued about 700 passengers aboard more than 20 lifeboats. For his actions that day, Captain Rostron was hailed as a hero, received a Congressional Medal from then U.S. President William Howard Taft, and was knighted by King George V of the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the highest price paid so far for an item recovered from the Titanic is known to be a gold watch left by John Jacob Astor IV. The gold watch he was wearing when the Titanic sank was sold to an American at an auction hosted by the British auction house Henry Aldridge & Son for ?1.17 million (about 2 billion KRW). This far exceeded the expected winning bid of ?100,000 to ?150,000 (about 176 million to 264 million KRW).
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