Just Because: Tiffany & Co. Acquires Titanic-Linked Pocket Watch For $1.97m – A New Record For Most Expensive Piece Of Titanic Memorabilia
Just last year, Tiffany & Co. partnered with the publisher Steidl to release a coffee table book full of objects in the brand’s archive collection. Aptly named “The Tiffany Archives,” the book details Tiffany’s history as the preeminent American jeweler, with world-famous items such as The Tiffany Diamond in all of its 128-carat glory. Now, the brand has acquired what could amount to The Tiffany Diamond of its watchmaking history.
Captain Arthur Rostron’s Tiffany & Co. pocket watch does not have the tangible value of something like a 128-carat yellow cushion-shaped diamond. In fact, it appears to be non-functional, sporting only its hour hand.
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What makes this watch among the most expensive time-only pocket watches ever sold is its historical provenance. Dating back to 1912, the watch was purchased by three prominent New York City society women as a gift for the man who saved their lives and the lives of some 700 others.
On April 15th, 1912, Captain Arthur Rostron of the RMS Carpathia was amidst a voyage from New York to Rijeka, a port in modern-day Croatia, when he heard the distress call of RMS Titanic: “Come at once. We have struck a berg.” Rostron’s RMS Carpathia was three and a half hours away from the Titanic but he instructed his crew to sail full speed through the ice floes and ready the ship to care for survivors. The captain’s decisiveness was a large part of the reason he and his crew were able to locate 20 of the Titanic’s lifeboats, bringing over 700 people to safety.
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Keep in mind that the official number of Titanic survivors is 705. If someone survived the Titanic, it can essentially be attributed to Captain Rostron.
As you can imagine, Captain Rostron was heralded as a hero around the world. As a gesture of gratitude, three survivors and now widows from New York’s high society, Mrs. Madeleine Talmage Astor (wife of John Jacob Astor IV), Mrs. Marian Longstreth Thayer (wife of John B. Thayer), and Mrs. Eleanor Elkins Widener (wife of George D. Widener), presented Rostron with this Tiffany & Co. pocket watch, made by Touchon.
An inscription inside the caseback reads: “Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th, 1912, Mrs. John B. Thayer, Mrs. John Jacob Astor, and Mrs. George D. Widener.” The watch itself is a nice example of early 1900s ultra-thin men’s pocket watches, which were popular amongst high society. Touchon was a maker of the highest quality in Geneva, sourcing ébauches from Audemars Piguet, Louis Elisée Piguet, LeCoultre, and others.
Tiffany confirmed today that it purchased this watch via a November auction at Henry Aldridge & Son, a U.K.-based auction house that specializes in memorabilia related to Titanic and White Star Line. The price of £1.56 million ($1.97 million) makes this not only one of the most expensive uncomplicated pocket watches ever but also sets a new high bar for any piece of Titanic-related memorabilia. Previous record holders include John Jacob Astor’s personal Waltham pocket watch, which sold for $1.5 million this past April, and a violin, which sold for $1.4 million in 2013.
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The watch was presented on May 31, 1912, at a luncheon hosted by Mrs. Astor at her residence in New York City. It was notably the first social event Mrs. Astor hosted after her husband’s death. The Tiffany pocket watch stayed with Captain Rostron and his family for over 70 years, adding to its provenance.
Tiffany is no stranger to a splashy archival purchase, especially since it was acquired by LVMH. A robin’s egg blue Basquiat painting starred alongside Jay-Z and Beyonce in the first major ad campaign of the LVMH-owned Tiffany era. The painting, entitled Equals Pi, was acquired by the Arnault family for a price in the range of $15 million to $20 million and now hangs in the brand’s Fifth Avenue flagship in New York.
Captain Rostron’s pocket watch will be displayed at next month’s LVMH Watch Week in Los Angeles, I would hope that Tiffany’s watchmakers could at least find suitable replacements for the hour and second hands in the meantime! From there, we’re likely to see the watch pop up at key events and store openings, according to the brand.
Hodinkee
