Bangla Press Desk: A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of one of the Titanic’s wealthiest passengers has achieved a record-breaking £1.78 million at auction. The watch belonged to Isidor Straus, the Bavaria-born American businessman, politician, and co-owner of New York’s iconic Macy’s department store, who perished alongside his wife Ida when the ship sank en route from Southampton to New York on 14 April 1912.
Straus’s body was recovered from the Atlantic in the days following the disaster. Among the personal effects found with him was an 18-carat gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch, a cherished item that remained in the Straus family for over a century before going under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire.
The couple’s story has long resonated as one of the Titanic’s most poignant. On the night of the sinking, Ida Straus is believed to have declined a place in a lifeboat, unwilling to abandon her husband and declaring that she wished to remain by his side. Her body was never recovered.
Other artefacts connected to the ill-fated liner also commanded substantial sums. A letter penned by Straus on Titanic stationery and posted while he was aboard the Belfast-built vessel sold for £100,000. A rare passenger list fetched £104,000, while a gold medal awarded to the crew of the rescue ship RMS Carpathia by grateful survivors realised £86,000.
In total, the auction of Titanic memorabilia amassed an impressive £3 million.
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