A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of one of the richest passengers on the Titanic has fetched a “record-breaking” £1.78m at auction.

Isidor Straus and his wife Ida were among the more than 1,500 people who died when the vessel travelling from Southampton to New York sank after hitting an iceberg on 14 April 1912.

His body was recovered from the Atlantic days after the disaster and among his possessions was an 18 carat gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch.

The watch, which had remained in the family of Mr and Mrs Straus, was sold at Henry Aldridge and Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, on Saturday.

Mr Straus was a Bavaria-born American businessman, politician, and co-owner of Macy’s department store in New York.

On the night of the sinking, it is believed his devoted wife refused a place in a lifeboat as she did not want to leave her husband and said she would rather die by his side.

The body of Ida Straus was never found.

A letter written by Mrs Straus on Titanic stationery and posted while she was onboard the ship, which was built in Belfast, fetched £100,000 at the auction.

A Titanic passenger list was purchased for £104,000 and a gold medal awarded to the crew of the RMS Carpathia by rescued survivors sold for £86,000.

The auction of Titanic-related memorabilia reached £3m in total.

Repaired and restored

The pocket watch stopped at 02:20, the moment the Titanic disappeared beneath the waves.

It is believed to have been a 43rd birthday gift from Ida Straus to her husband in 1888 and is engraved with Straus’ initials.

It was returned to his family and was passed down through generations before Kenneth Hollister Straus, Isidor’s great-grandson, had the movement repaired and restored.

‘Ultimate love story’

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said “the world record price” for the watch “illustrates the enduring interest in the Titanic story”.

“Every man, woman and child passenger or crew had a story to tell and they are told 113 years later through the memorabilia,” he added.

“The Strauses were the ultimate love story, Ida refusing to leave her husband of 41 years as the Titanic sank, and this world record price is testament to the respect that they are held in.”

A gold pocket watch presented to the captain of the Carpathia, the steamship which rescued more than 700 Titanic survivors, sold last year for a then record-breaking £1.56m.

Source: BBC