A pocket watch belonging to the Titanic’s wealthiest passenger is up for auction and might fetch up to 150,000 pounds ($190,000).
The auction for John Jacob Astor IV’s 14-carat gold Waltham pocket watch will commence on Saturday, with a starting bid of 60,000 pounds, as announced by auction house Henry Aldridge & Son. The watch, which bears the initials JJA, was discovered alongside Astor’s body when it was retrieved several days after the sinking of the Titanic. In addition to the pocket watch, Astor was also found with a diamond ring, gold and diamond cufflinks, 225 pounds in English notes, and $2,440.
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Astor and his wife, Madeleine, were passengers aboard the Titanic. The wealthy entrepreneur, who was in his 40s at the time, had tied the knot with the 18-year-old Madeleine on September 11, 1911. Seeking respite from the scrutiny surrounding their marriage, the couple embarked on an extended honeymoon across Europe and Egypt. Unfortunately, tragedy struck as they were making their way back to the United States when the Titanic collided with an iceberg on April 14, 1912.
According to the auction house, the watch holds significant historical value as it was restored and later worn by Colonel Astor’s son, making it a one-of-a-kind artifact in the Titanic’s story. This makes the timepiece an essential piece of horological history associated with the world’s most renowned ship.
The pocket watch’s sale coincides with other artifacts from the notorious shipwreck being auctioned off. One such item is a photograph, taken on April 16, 1912, which purportedly captures the iceberg responsible for the ship’s tragic fate.
In November, a menu from the first-class restaurant of the Titanic was sold at auction, along with a pocket watch belonging to another passenger who perished in the 1912 disaster. The menu fetched approximately $101,600, while the pocket watch, recovered from Russian immigrant Sinai Kantor, sold for about $118,700.
According to the auction house, Astor had a diverse range of accomplishments during his life. He was not only a business magnate, real estate developer, and investor, but also a writer and a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War. One of his notable achievements was the establishment of the St. Regis hotel in New York City, which remains a prominent landmark to this day. Additionally, Astor is recognized for his innovative contribution to the field of air conditioning, as he devised a method of blowing cold air over the hotel’s wall vents.
According to the Library of Congress, John Jacob Astor, a fur trader who passed away in 1848, was his great grandfather and one of the richest individuals in the United States. In their 2023 book “Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune,” Anderson Cooper and co-author historian Katherine Howe elaborated on the Astor family’s wealth accumulation.
