A gold watch gifted to the ship captain who rescued over 700 passengers and crew members from the Titanic has sold for nearly $2 million, breaking the record for memorabilia from the famous shipwreck.
Captain Arthur Rostron’s steamship, the RMS Carpathia, had been on the way to the Mediterranean from New York when a radio operator received a distress call from the Titanic in the early hours of Apr. 15, 1912. The captain quickly changed the ship’s course to go to the doomed vessel’s aid.
By the time the Carpathia arrived, the Titanic had already sunk. While 1,500 people perished, the crew was able to locate 20 lifeboats of survivors and took them back to New York. Rostron was hailed a hero for his actions and was awarded the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal by U.S. President William Howard Taft and later knighted by King George V.
A year after the Titanic’s launch, Rostron received an 18-carat Tiffany & Co. pocket watch from the widows of three wealthy businessmen who died in the sinking of the Titanic. The watch bears 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, Mrs. George D. Widener.”
Auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son have now sold this gold watch for £1.56 million ($1.97 million) to a private collector in the United States. According to auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, the staggering figure reflects the unrelenting interest in the story of the Titanic.