Gold watch recovered from Titanic passenger sells for £1.78m

A collection of Titanic memorabilia has sold for £3 million at auction, led by a gold pocket watch recovered from passenger Isidor Straus that fetched a "record-breaking" £1.78 million, in what the auctioneer said showed continuing public interest in the 1912 disaster.

Andrew Aldridge, the auctioneer, said the "world record price" paid for the 18-carat Jules Jurgensen watch "illustrates the enduring interest in the Titanic story." Straus, an American businessman, politician and co-owner of Macy's department store, died in the sinking. His watch, which stopped at 02:20, the moment the Titanic went down, had been returned to his family after the disaster, says the BBC.

The stories of Straus and his wife Ida continued to draw attention. Ida is remembered for declining a place in a lifeboat, saying she did not want to leave her husband. Auction notes described their story as "the ultimate love story," and the high sale price was seen as a "testament to the respect that they are held in."

Other items in the sale also attracted strong bidding. A letter written by Ida Straus on Titanic stationery sold for £100,000, while a Titanic passenger list reached £104,000. A gold medal awarded to crew members of the rescue ship RMS Carpathia sold for £86,000.

The new record for Straus's watch surpassed the £1.56 million paid last year for a gold pocket watch presented to the Carpathia's captain, suggesting what the auction house described as sustained interest in significant artifacts from the wreck.