A pocket watch carried to his watery grave by American business magnate John Jacob Astor IV has sold to an unnamed American collector for £1.2 million.
Thought to have been one of the world’s richest men at the time of his death on April 15, 1912, Mr Astor was a first class passenger on the maiden voyage of the Titanic when it hit an iceberg and sank.
His body was found a week after the disaster with his possessions listed by authorities as a gold watch; cuff links, gold with diamond; diamond ring with three stones; £225 in English notes; $2440 in notes; £5 in gold; 7s. in silver; 5 ten franc pieces; gold pencil; pocketbook.
The 14ct gold Waltham pocket watch engraved on case with his initials, JJA, went to auction at Wiltshire-based Henry Aldridge & Son in a sale titled Auction of Titanic, White Star and Transport Memorabilia.
It had a pre-sale estimate of just £100,000 to £150,000.
The pocket watch has been owned and maintained by a member of the Astor family since the tragedy and is known to collectors of Titanic memorabelia.
It is shown in a full-page illustration in the most definitive book relating to Titanic memorabilia Titanic Fortune and Fate Simon and Schuster 1998 and has been on display at exhibitions and museums including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Mr Astor is widely recognised as the richest passenger aboard the R.M.S. Titanic and was thought to be among the richest people in the world at that time with a net worth of roughly $87 million (equivalent to several billion dollars today).
His business interests, which were mostly real estate, included the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
His wealth could not save him on the fateful night of April 14/15, 2012, when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank.
According to notes accompanying the pocket watch auction, at first Mr Astor did not believe the ship was in any serious danger but later it was apparent she was sinking and the captain had started an evacuation after midnight.
He helped his wife, Madelaine, into lifeboat 4, but was told by an officer he could not join her because women and children were taking priority.
Mr Astor perished but his wife survived.
2012??