Titanic’s richest passenger’s watch is auctioned for R$7.47 million

A gold watch that belonged to the Titanic’s richest passenger was sold for 1.17 million pounds sterling (R$7.47 million) at an auction in the United Kingdom, according to British house Henry Aldridge & Son.

An American buyer won the dispute, shattering the previous estimate, between 100,000 and 150,000 pounds (614 thousand and 921 thousand reais).

The value obtained beats the record reached in 2013 for an object related to the famous ship that sank in the north of the Atlantic.

The auction house recalls that this year a violin was sold for 1.1 million pounds (R$5.6 million). The case of this instrument was also sold this Saturday for 360 thousand pounds (R$ 2.3 million).

The watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to American businessman John Jacob Astor, who was 47 years old when the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912.

Astor, considered one of the richest men in the world at that time, with a fortune of 87 million dollars, the equivalent of several billion dollars today, died on the ship, after helping his wife, Madeleine, into a lifeboat. lives.

Astor’s body was found a week after the disaster, with his 14-karat gold pocket watch among his personal belongings.

“The watch has been completely restored after being returned to Colonel Astor’s family and taken by his son,” the auction house said in a statement.