Tiffany Buys Back Titanic Watch for Record $1.97m
December 22, 24
(IDEX Online) - Tiffany & Co paid a record $1.97m for a gold pocket watch it made in 1912, and which was gifted to the captain of a ship that rescued more than 700 passengers and crew from the Titanic.
The watch was sold by UK auction house Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd last month, but the buyer's identity was not revealed at the time.
Tiffany & Co has now announced that it was behind the "record-breaking acquisition" - the highest price ever paid for an item of Titanic memorabilia.
The watch was a gift from three wealthy women who were saved by the passenger ship R.M.S. Carpathia as the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage, with the loss of over 1,500 lives. The recipient was Captain (later Sir) Arthur H. Rostron.
A ledger in The Tiffany Archives records that the watch was purchased by Mrs. G. D. Widener, one of the three women.
It is engraved with the inscription "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".
The previous record for a Titanic-related object sold at auction was also a pocket watch, which sold for $1.485m earlier this year.
"The fact the world record price for Titanic memorabilia has been broken twice this year demonstrates the ever-decreasing supply and an ever-increasing demand for memorabilia related to the ship," auctioneer Andrew Aldridge told CNN.
Pics, courtesy Tiffany & Co, show the watch and its inscription.