Watch Given to Captain for Saving Hundreds ofTitanicPassengers Sells for Nearly $2M at Auction

Mar. 15, 2025

18-carat gold pocket watch.Photo:Henry Aldridge and Son / SWNS

Henry Aldridge and Son / SWNS

This pocket watch could rival theHeart of the Ocean.

A gold Tiffany & Co. pocket watch given to a captain who saved passengers from theTitanicsold for almost $2 million at an auction over the weekend, according to reports.

Rostron, who helmed the passenger shipRMS Carpathia, saved 700 passengers who were stranded at sea after theTitanicstruck an icebergin the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. His ship was set to travel from New York towards the Mediterranean Sea but diverted its route after receiving the fated distress call from theTitanic.

Rostron was awoken from his cabin when the call came in and steered the wreckage through icebergs to reach theTitanic,CBS Newsreported. Though theTitanicsank upon Rostron’s arrival, his crew found 20 lifeboats and brought the hundreds of rescued people to New York. Over 1,500 people ultimately died as a result of the sinking.

The widow of John Jacob Astor — the wealthiest man aboard theTitanic— and two other widows of wealthy businessmen who died in the tragedy presented Rostron with the watch at a lunch at Astor’s mansion in New York City, according to CBS News.

The inscription on the stunning timepiece reads: “Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912 Mrs John B Thayer, Mrs John Jacob Astor and Mrs George D Widener.”

“It was presented principally in gratitude for Rostron’s bravery in saving those lives, because without Mr Rostron, those 700 people wouldn’t have made it,” auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said, the BBC reported.

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source: people.com