A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of the Titanic’s richest man will be auctioned on Saturday.
John Jacob Astor, 47, went down with the ship in 1912 after helping his wife into a lifeboat.
Instead of trying his luck with another lifeboat, the impeccably dressed businessman, a prominent member of the wealthy Astor family, was last seen smoking a cigarette and chatting with another passenger.
His body was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean seven days after the sinking of the ship, which struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage to New York, and his 14-karat gold Waltham pocket watch, engraved with the initials JJA, was found.
The watch is expected to sell for between £100,000 and £150,000 when it goes under the hammer at auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire on Saturday.
Mr. Astor was considered one of the richest people in the world at the time of Titanicis sinking, with a net worth of about $87 million – equivalent to several billion dollars today, said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge.
“At first, Astor did not believe the ship was in serious danger, but it later became clear that she was sinking and the captain initiated an evacuation after midnight, so he helped his wife into lifeboat four,” Aldridge said.
Mrs. Astor survived. Her husband’s body was recovered not far from the wreck.
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The watch was passed down from Mr. Astor’s son, Vincent, to the son of his father’s executive secretary, William Dobbyn.
“The clock itself has been completely restored after being returned to Mr. Astor’s family and worn by his son,” Aldridge added.
He called it “a unique part of Titanic history and one of the most important pieces of horological history relating to the world’s most famous ship.”
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