The Gold Watch of the Captain Who Saved the Passengers of the Titanic Sold for a Record Amount (10 photos)

The pocket watch of the captain of the steamship Carpathia has sold for a record £1.56 million. Arthur Rostron received the 18-carat gold Tiffany & Co watch as a gift from the survivors of the Titanic.





The jewel was presented by the widows of businessmen John Jacob Astor, John Thayer and George Widener. Their husbands died in the liner's sinking.

The steamship Carpathia received a distress signal from the sinking Titanic and was the first to arrive at the scene. In total, the crew saved 712 people.



The inscription on the watch reads: "Presented to Captain Rostron with sincere thanks and gratitude from the three survivors of the Titanic, April 15, 1912, Mrs. John B. Thayer, Mrs. John Jacob Astor, and Mrs. George D. Widener."





"Captain Rostron received the gift from Mr. Astor's wife during a dinner at the family mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York," the auction house said.



Carpathia captain Arthur Rostron

The previous record was set in April, when another gold watch belonging to John Jacob Astor sold for £1.175 million.



Financier John Jacob Astor, 47, was the richest passenger on board the Titanic

A Waltham pocket watch, made of 14-karat gold and emblazoned with Astor's initials, was given to his son Vincent. He wore it until 1935, when he passed it on to his godson William Dobbin.

In the 1990s, the watch was acquired by a collector of Titanic memorabilia. It has since been displayed in various museums across the United States.



The violin that was being played when the ship sank held the record for the most expensive Titanic memorabilia for 11 years. In 2013, it sold for £1.1 million.



Wallace Hartley's violin

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the fact that the record had been broken twice in the last year showed that demand for memorabilia was growing.

"The price of artefacts is going up exponentially," he added.

A rusty key to a storage room where life jackets were kept sold for a staggering £85,000. The key belonged to deceased steward Sidney Sedunari, 23, from Southampton.



On her maiden voyage on April 14, 1912, the Titanic collided with iceberg



Survivors in a lifeboat



The wreckage of the liner lies on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean 600 km from the coast of Newfoundland