This Titanic pocket watch broke records and expectations. It also has a fascinating story and provenance.
I’ve been in the auction world for years. I wouldn’t say I’m jaded, but I’ve seen a lot of records broken. Still, the Titanic pocket watch that sold for $1.5 million at Henry Aldridge & Son had my jaw on the floor.
Not only did it go for several times its high estimate, but it’s the highest-selling piece of memorabilia to ever come from the legendary sunken liner.
Beyond that, it was owned by John Jacob Astor IV of the Astor family. If ever there were American royals, they’d definitely be in the peerage.
By the way, Astor kept it admirably cool during the tragedy. Are you intrigued? You should be.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Titanic pocket watch recovered from this classy gent and that legendary ship.
Table of Contents
The Pocket Watch
The pocket watch from Titanic is a pretty remarkable item, even without its storied history. It’s a beautiful 14-carat gold Waltham timepiece. It has an elegant stemmed onion crown with a swinging bow.
This provides a classic yet dynamic silhouette, becoming a wealthy high-society man.
Even more, it’s engraved with a gracefully swirly monogram on the front of its full hunter case. A hunter case is simply one that features a metal cover that completely covers the watch’s face when closed.
Compare this to an open-face pocket watch or a half hunter, which features transparent components to the cover.
The monogram reads JJA for John Jacob Astor.
The white watch face flaunts Arabic indices, a small seconds subdial, and Breguet-like hands. It’s classy and timeless and could easily be seen on dress watches and everyday watches today.
While the Waltham Watch Company still makes watches and clocks today, its heyday was in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, they were known for elaborate and attractively decorated movements, precision instruments, and premium timekeepers in general.
They were active during the peak of American watchmaking, back when the US used to have its own “Switzerland” in Connecticut.
It would make sense for an American aristocrat like Mr. Astor to go for a timepiece like this.
Another reason this specific watch is so remarkable? Unlike so many artifacts from the Titanic, it lived a life post-tragedy. Astor’s body was recovered by steamer CS McKay-Bennett. The watch itself was on his person. As such, it was returned to the family.
Astor’s son, Vincent, had it fully restored for himself. Vincent then passed the watch on to William Dobbyn, the son of his father’s chief of staff.
It represents one of many stories about the Titanic, an important piece of horological history and an important piece of American history.
The Auction
At England-based auction house Henry Aldridge & Son, JJ Astor’s watch sold on April 27, 2024, for £1.175 million at the end of the day. Again, that’s roughly $1.5 million in American dollars.
I say at the end of the day because auction items hammer at a certain price. Then, there’s usually a buyer’s premium, along with taxes and the like. In 2013, Henry Aldridge & Son hammered a violin from the Titanic at £900,000, which ended up being about £1.1 million after fees and taxes.
At the time, this violin was the highest-selling artifact from the sunken liner.
The Astor pocket watch surpassed this, making it the highest-selling piece of Titanic memorabilia ever. Plus, its auction estimate was between £100,000 and £150,000, or about $125,000 to $187,600 in American currency.
This means the price realized for this lot was about eight times more than the high estimate. The winner is a private American buyer who took the piece past the finish line (and back around again) after a tense bidding war. Calling this a success would be an understatement.
Again, this isn’t the first time Henry Aldridge & Son has auctioned off some important Titanic-related pieces.
In fact, this family-run auction house is arguably the authority when it comes to evaluating Titanic artifacts. They sell a wide range of memorabilia but have a dedicated section on maritime and Titanic-specific treasures on their website.
They actually sold another gilded pocket watch from the wreck belonging to postal clerk Oscar Scott Woody in 2022 for around $100,000.
Another Titanic pocket watch, formerly belonging to a Russian passenger named Sinai Kantor, sold for over $118,000. And in November 2023, a first-class menu from the ship’s restaurant sold for a little over $100,000 as well.
Suffice it to say, the JJ Astor pocket watch went far beyond the norm here.
The Henry Aldridge & Son auction house has held sales twice a year since the 1990s. Its managing director is Andrew Aldrige, and his wife is Chrissie Aldridge.
The Man
When the Titanic went down in April of 1912, courtesy of a rogue iceberg, John Jacob Astor IV dropped his wife, Madeleine, off at a lifeboat. Women and children first, of course.
As the ship sank and as the orchestra played, Astor lit up a cigarette with journalist Jacques Futrelle and chatted up fellow passengers — all of whom were probably wondering if he knew how serious the situation was. Some say he didn’t. But this does make him quite the character in his own story.
JJ Astor and Madeleine married the year prior on September 11, 1911. To avoid the gossip and attention back in New York City society, they took quite a long honeymoon. Madeleine was his much younger second wife.
The newlyweds spent time in Europe and Egypt. They hopped on the Titanic on their way back to New York. Sadly, Mr. Astor never made it. He was among the over 1,500 victims of the tragedy.
As we now know, thanks to history books (or James Cameron, no judgment), there weren’t enough lifeboats for everyone onboard.
Astor was the richest man on the ship, the great-grandson of the patriarch, John Jacob Astor. This original Astor was a fur trader who died as one of the wealthiest men of his time.
JJ himself amassed his wealth. He was a successful business magnate, writer, shrewd investor, and real estate developer. During the Spanish-American War, he was also a lieutenant colonel.
I think of JJ Astor quite often, as he founded the St. Regis here in Manhattan. The St. Regis is one of my favorite places to grab a daytime martini. In fact, it’s a popular spot in general for Upper East Siders of leisure to have an afternoon martini.
At this hotel, Astor even invented a precursor to air conditioning.
When he passed, he was worth $87 million. By today’s standards, that would mean he boasted billions in net worth.
When his body was recovered, he also had a diamond ring, diamond and gold cufflinks, and a few thousand American dollars and some hundred English pounds.
The Allure of the Titanic Pocket Watch
I’m surprised at how much this piece fetched at auction, but I’m not surprised at its general success.
Astor is a big name. The Titanic and the stories we continue to recover from it are evergreen. And for watch lovers, names and stories are often even more important than the function itself.
It is truly remarkable that Astor’s son granted this timepiece a second life. Perhaps it represents hope in tragedy.
Questions? Comments? Let us know!
Leave a Reply