While Astor was on the ship that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912, he remained on the ship after putting his pregnant wife, Madelaine, on a lifeboat. He had previously tried to escape from the ship but was thwarted. He was last seen smoking a cigarette while chatting with a passenger, and his body was recovered from the sea a week later.
Astor was wearing a 14-carat gold Waltham pocket watch with his initials engraved on it. This watch was offered for £150,000 by Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire. Astor’s son Vincent had the watch repaired and used it until 1935, when he passed it on to his godson William Dobbyn.
The watch was purchased by a private collector in the 1990s and has been displayed in various places, including the National Geographic Exhibition in Washington, D.C., and the Titanic Museum in Missouri.
Auction expert Andrew Aldridge stated that the watch is one of the most striking pieces of Titanic memorabilia. The watch was probably not working and may have been damaged as it remained in the freezing waters of the Atlantic for seven days after the disaster.
