World's richest man's watch on Titanic sells for $1.5 million

On Saturday, the gold watch found on the body of the world's richest man who was on the Titanic was put up for auction, reaching a price of 1.5 million USD.

The watch was sold to an anonymous collector from the United States. The auction was held by Henry Aldridge & Son auction house in Devizes, Wiltshire, England.

Close-up of the watch being auctioned (Photo: Daily Mail).

The price paid for the watch now breaks the previous record for a Titanic memorabilia item, which was previously held by a violin played by a musician on the Titanic as it sank, which sold for nearly $1.4 million.

The gold watch was originally expected to fetch £150,000 (nearly VND5 billion). The watch was owned by American businessman John Jacob Astor. When he boarded the Titanic, Mr. Astor had assets of around $150 million, equivalent to $3.5 billion at the present time.

Mr. Astor was said to be the richest man in the world at that time. He died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Mr. Astor was 47 when he died.

Astor's body was found seven days after the sinking. He was identified by his suit, which had his initials embroidered on it. His gold watch was found in his vest pocket, and his initials were engraved on the case. The watch was later sent to one of Astor's sons.

The watch stopped at 2:20. This is the time when the Titanic sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. John Jacob Astor's son - Vincent Astor - was the recipient of the watch and had it repaired, then used the watch until 1935, when he gave it to a godson named William Dobbyn.

The watch was purchased by a Titanic memorabilia collector from the Dobbyn family in the 1990s. Since then, the watch has been displayed in many museums around the world.

American businessman John Jacob Astor (Photo: Daily Mail).

In fact, when he was on the Titanic, Mr. Astor had just finished his honeymoon with his young wife - Madeleine (18 years old). Their marriage caused much controversy among the upper class in New York (USA) at that time, because Mr. Astor had divorced his long-time wife, to quickly get together with a young girl.

To avoid the scandal, the newlyweds chose to take a long honeymoon in Europe and Africa. After the Titanic hit an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, Mr. Astor initially did not think the problem was serious. Later, the captain of the Titanic personally came to confirm the seriousness of the incident.

After putting his young wife, who was five months pregnant, on a lifeboat, Mr. Astor, along with other millionaires on the Titanic such as Isador Strauss and Benjamin Guggenheim, had to accept their tragic end, because there were not enough lifeboats for all the passengers on the Titanic.

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/dong-ho-cua-nguoi-giau-nhat-the-gioi-tren-tau-titanic-dat-gia-15-trieu-usd-172240430114002692.htm