Golden watch of the richest passenger on the Titanic sold at a British auction for a record sum

At the British auction house Henry Aldridge & Son, the golden watch belonging to the wealthiest passenger on the Titanic was sold. A private collector bid a record-breaking £1.175 million ($1.48 million) for the item salvaged from the sunken ship.

Up for auction were golden pocket watches by Waltham. Their original owner was the 47-year-old passenger of the famous Titanic, businessman John Jacob Astor, whose body was found seven days after the shipwreck in 1912.

According to Bloomberg, citing representatives of the auction platform Henry Aldridge & Son, the amount for which an anonymous enthusiast purchased the watch became the highest in the history of Titanic-related sales. John Jacob Astor's watch surpassed the previous auction record held by a violin. The musical instrument, played as the ship went under, was acquired for £1.1 million ($1.4 million).

John Jacob Astor was the wealthiest passenger on the Titanic. His fortune at the time exceeded $87 million. He was aboard the Titanic with his wife, Madeleine, who managed to survive the disaster: at the last moment, she was transferred to a lifeboat.

The businessman's body was found on April 22, along with the engraved Waltham golden watch.