Tag Archives: Titanic auction

Rostron Pocket Watch Sold For Record Amount

18 Carat Gold Watch made by Tiffany & Company. It was presented to Captain Arthur Rostron of SS Carpathia in recognition of his rescuing Titanic survivors. It was presented to him by three widows-Madeline Astor, Marian Thayer and Eleanor Widener-whose husbands had perished when the ship sank. The case is inscribed with these words: ‘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.’
Image: Henry Aldridge & Son

 

The 18-carat gold watch presented to Captain Arthur Rostron, who commanded the Carpathia that rescued Titanic survivors, was sold for a record-breaking amount of £1.56m ($1,976,860) over the weekend. Auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, who specialize in handling Titanic memorabilia amongst other valuable items, reported it was the highest fee ever paid for a Titanic item. The previous record was £1.175m for the watch owned by John Jacob Astor. The watch was originally thought to fetch £120,000.

The watch was given by the widows of three prominent men who died on Titanic-Madeline Astor, Marian Thayer and Eleanor Widener-to Rostron in recognition of his service to rescue Titanic survivors. Rostron received the watch while attending at a luncheon given in his honor by Mrs. Astor at her home in June 1912.

The watch was purchased by a private collector (name not disclosed) in the U.S.

Sources

Harry Howard, “Titanic Widows’ Watch Gift to Hero Rescuer: Gold Timepiece Given by Wives of Liner’s Wealthiest…,” Mail Online, November 12, 2024, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14071719/Titanic-widows-watch-gift-hero-rescuer-Gold-timepiece-given-wives-liners-wealthiest-victims-captain-rescue-ship-1912-disaster-tipped-sell-120-000.html.

Guardian Staff Reporter, “Watch Given to Captain Who Saved 700 Titanic Passengers Sells for £1.56m,” The Guardian, November 16, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/16/watch-given-to-captain-who-saved-700-titanic-passengers-sells-for-156m.

Sky News, “Watch Gifted to Captain Who Saved 700 Titanic Passengers Sells for Record Fee,” Sky News, last modified November 18, 2024, https://news.sky.com/story/watch-gifted-to-captain-who-saved-700-titanic-passengers-sells-for-record-fee-13255624.

Suggested Reading

Behe, G. (2012). On board RMS Titanic: Memories of the Maiden Voyage. The History Press.

Brewster, H. (2013). Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic’s First-Class Passengers and Their World. National Geographic Books.

Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition

Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc.)

Titanic News Channel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Monday Titanic News

“TITANIC: The Artefact Exhibition Opens at Melbourne Museum.” Australian Arts Review, 18 Dec. 2023, artsreview.com.au/titanic-the-artefact-exhibition-opens-at-melbourne-museum.

Showcasing over 200 original objects recovered from the wreck site of the ill-fated luxury steamship, the highly anticipated global blockbuster TITANIC: The Artefact Exhibition has opened at Melbourne Museum. These stories include Australians like stewardess Evelyn Marsden, who defied social norms and helped row her lifeboat to safety – a skill she picked up in her youth on the Murray River – and engineer Arthur McRae, whose grandparents settled on the Mornington Peninsula where their legacy lives on in a suburb named in their honour.

=

“Original Features From the Titanic’s Sister Ship – Also Found in Alnwick Hotel – Fetch Whopping Price at Auction.” Northumberland Gazette, 15 Dec. 2023, www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/people/original-features-from-the-titanics-sister-ship-also-found-in-alnwick-hotel-fetch-whopping-price-at-auction-4447466.

Three of its original lights went under the hammer at Anderson & Garland Auctioneers in Newcastle.They were sold after a battle between a bidder in the room and another on the telephone from Holland.

 

,,

Jack Phillips Postcard To Sister Up For Auction

 

Jack George Phillips, Titanic Wireless Operator, 1912
Author unknown
Photo: Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons

Titanic Postcard Signed ‘Love, Jack’ Set To Fetch More Than $15K At Auction (New York Post, 6 April 2021)

Signed “Love, Jack,” the postcard was sent by a hero of the Titanic disaster – but he wasn’t the fictional (swoon!) Jack Dawson character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the epic 1997 movie. Nonetheless, the 1912 correspondence bearing an image of the supposed “unsinkable” ship written by senior wireless operator Jack Phillips is expected to fetch at least $15,000 at auction this month. The then-24-year-old sent the postcard 109 years ago to his sister, Elsie Phillips, from Belfast, Ireland, on March 7, just five weeks before the fateful sinking — and his death on April 15. He wrote a sweet message to his sibling on the reverse of the glossy photo postcard showing the White Star Line’s Titanic on the day of its launch at Belfast on May 31, 1911.


 

Friday Titanic News

Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain

Photograph of The Iceberg That ‘Most Likely’ Sunk Titanic Surfaces 108 Years After Disaster (TimesNowNews.com, 15 June 2020)

The image of the iceberg was taken by the captain of another ship just two days before it struck the Titanic. Captain W. Wood, who served on board the SS Etonian, captured the huge iceberg on his camera. He got the photo developed when he reached New York and sent the print to his great-grandfather. Along with the photo, Wood also sent a letter that stated that this was the iceberg that sank the Titanic. “I am sending you a sea picture, the Etonian running before a gale and the iceberg that sank the Titanic. We crossed the ice tracks 40hrs before her and in daylight so saw the ice easily and I got a picture,” Wood wrote in the letter.

Photo: Public Domain (Library and Archives Canada / PA-122236)

Op-Ed: Recovering Titanic’s Radio Would Create a Dangerous Precedent (Maritime Executive, 14 June 20)

From an archaeological perspective, recovering the radio will involve further damage to the memorial site for very limited gain with regard to scientific and cultural knowledge. We already know the make, model and history of this radio. So motivation for the salvage appears to lie in the radio’s economic potential as a tourist attraction and through a possible future sale. As archaeologists we understand there are times when intrusive and destructive interventions are required. But such acts need to be carefully considered in light of their impact on our shared global heritage. Once such actions take place they cannot be undone. A court ruling for such a culturally significant site that goes against advice from NOAA and counter to the principles of UNESCO, risks suggesting that the principles of shared heritage and selective intervention can be easily negated through simplistic arguments of degradation and profit.

Titanic Hero’s Whistle, Other Artifacts, Up For Auction (Fox News, 11 June 2020)

A whistle that belonged to a hero of the Titanic disaster is up for auction in the U.K., along with a host of other artifacts. The whistle is among a trove of items that belonged to Harold Lowe, a fifth officer on the Titanic. “Harold Lowe was without doubt one of the heroes of the Titanic disaster,” explained auctioneer Andrew Aldridge of U.K. auction house Henry Aldridge & Son in a statement emailed to Fox News. The archive has been in the possession of Lowe’s direct descendants.

Judge Gavel
George Hodan
publicdomainpictures.net

Feds Oppose Summer 2020 Salvage Mission at Titanic Wreck Site (Courthouse News Service, 9 June 2020)

In a memo supporting the motion to intervene meanwhile, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kent Porter points to an international agreement with the United Kingdom that the United States signed into law two years ago, saying it “precludes penetrating the wreck for salvage purposes, or if any activity would physically disturb the hull, artifacts or human remains.” Porter says any salvage activities are subject to federal regulation “RMST did not and has not sought an authorization from the secretary of commerce for this or any of the other activity set forth in its Research Design,” the 22-page memo states.

Premiere Exhibitions Update:Titanic Artifact Auction Cancelled

On 8 Oct 2018, Premier Exhibitions filed a Notice of Cancellation of Auction with the federal bankruptcy court as no other bidders met the minimum required. This means that the bid submitted by PacBridge Capital Partners (HK) et al for $19.5 million will stand. The company will now seek the court approval to sell the company and artifacts to them.

The Equity Committee has filed motions opposing the sale and still seeks other bidders.

Source(s):
1. NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF AUCTION AND INTENT TO SEEK APPROVAL OF THE SALE OF THE TRANSFERRED ASSETS TO THE STALKING HORSE PURCHASER
(In re:RMS Titanic Inc et al, Case No. 3:16-bk-02230-PMG, October 8, 2018
http://upshotservices.s3.amazonaws.com/files/497d5a77-fff2-49a9-98f0-c32110ea0410/ad81cdf4-23da-4d53-acbe-090ed4aa2846.pdf
2. Equity Committee Response Opposing Motion To Approve Sale
http://upshotservices.s3.amazonaws.com/files/497d5a77-fff2-49a9-98f0-c32110ea0410/fe9ca2ec-a6bd-41f4-8b29-d058e4a62b24.pdf
3. Equity Committee Reservation of Rights and Limited Objection
http://upshotservices.s3.amazonaws.com/files/497d5a77-fff2-49a9-98f0-c32110ea0410/efc460b5-fde9-4963-a5f3-bb05738d17ea.pdf

Rare Titanic Postcard Up for Auction;Legal Action in Premier Exhibitions Bankruptcy

New York Times Front Page 16 April 1912
Public Domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Titanic postcard with eerie message written by maid goes up for auction (New York Post, 19 June 2018)
A postcard written by a maid on the Titanic to a friend which said “wish you were here” is expected to fetch more than $26,000 at auction.
Sarah Daniels wrote to pal Nell Green on April 11, 1912 – four days before the doomed liner hit an iceberg and sank which resulted in 1,503 lives lost. The pencil-written postcard, which bears a black-and-white picture of the Titanic, was addressed to Miss Green of Birmingham, England. The card has a post stamp of Queenstown, now Cobh in Cork, Ireland, which was the port from which mail written on board was posted.

-The postcard will be auctioned as part of a lot on July 18, 2018 by Warwick & Warwick Auctioneers.

Premier Exhibitions Update:
The Lawsuit is filed….After obtaining permission to pursue legal action, the Equity Committee of Premier Shareholders has filed suit against Mark Sellers, Sellers Capital, Daoping Bao and others alleging breach of fiduciary duty, a hasty merger with Daoping Bao without proper consideration of the merger, other opportunities, proper accounting review of Dinoking among other things. In short, you guys did a lousy job of running the company and an even more lousy job with merging with DinoKing. And now we want the shareholders, who lost equity in all of this, to get compensation. Ought to be interesting to watch. You can read the complaint here.

Summer is here and kids want to play? How about a Titanic Bouncy Slide?
The recent Taste of Charlotte festival usually has little controversy. This year for the event there was an inflatable slide in the shape of the sinking Titanic. It struck many as odd and in some cases offensive reported Fox46. Now this slide has been around for a while so it is nothing new. And while some did not like it, others had no problem having fun. Fun or tacky? Well I have said it before, if you turn tragedy into something like this you are bound to not appreciate that 1,500 died on a cold April night in 1912.
Source:Fun or Offensive? ‘Sinking Titanic’ slide at Taste of Charlotte turns heads (Fox46,12 June 2018)


Titanic Tidbits

RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912.
RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912.

1.  A lump of coal and a rusticle that were salvaged from Titanic in the 1990’s are going up for auction. The coal was brought up in 1994 (the Titanic Research & Recovery Expedition) and the rusticle from the ship’s hull from the 1998 French expedition to the site. The go under the hammer today at JP Humbert Auctioneers (UK).
Source: Chunk Of Titanic Goes Under The Hammer(10 Mar 2015,Advertiser & Review)

2.The UK Guardian’s Chase Condrone gave Titanic Museum at Pigeon Forge, Tennessee a good review. She notes the museum crafts reality and theatre into one with people dressed up in period costumes, the original items on display, the ability to feel the coldness of that night. It also makes her in one case feel a bit creepy:

I walk up to a narrow trough of water, and a sign tells me to plunge my hand into it. The water is 28 degrees: the temperature of the Atlantic that night. In his 1915 poem The Convergence of the Twain, Thomas Hardy saw the Titanic and the iceberg as “twin halves of one august event”. My iceberg is just a picture, but this room is nonetheless creepy, and as I trail my hand in the trough of icy water, I feel certain that I could never know the experience of the Titanic.

Source: For $27 You Can Experience The Sinking Of The Titanic – In Landlocked Tennessee (12 Mar 2015,The Guardian)

3. Eurogamer.net reports that a proposed project called Titanic Honor & Glory will be the most ambitious recreation of the disaster to date. While it will be a game, the developer has hired a team of contributors to make it historically accurate (except of course the fictional aspects of the story). There will be interaction with real-life Titanic passengers and crew. Sounds pretty ambitious and hopefully will come to pass.
Source: Ambitious Titanic Game Lets You Explore The Sinking Ship In Real-Time (eurogamer.net,24 Feb 2015

MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997

Titanic Musings-Ballard Wishes He Claimed Titanic

Right now the artifacts raised from Titanic are up for auction but only as a single lot. RMS Titanic, Inc. did not like this restriction since it makes hard to find a buyer or group of buyers willing to put up $189 million. However the proposed auction has been delayed and a press release yesterday indicates they are in negotiations with multiple parties. A press conference originally scheduled for 11 April has been put off until further notice. One wonders who these buyers might be considering the huge price tag. It could be a consortium of museums, government entities, or very wealthy business people who want to continue the exhibition.

Robert Ballard, who was part of the expedition that found Titanic in 1985, now regrets disclosing its location. Further he wishes now he could have made a claim on the wreck to prevent salvage. Except of course he could not have done so easily. Likely he would be excluded do his association with Wood’s Hole at the time. Wood’s Hole received government money and worked with the U.S. Navy. And government employees and those who work or affiliated with government are excluded from making salvage claims (which would give them an unfair advantage over private companies). Then there is the fact that Ballard was a reserve naval officer. Ballard knows this making his recent claim on National Public Radio curious. Then again perhaps it was just wistful thinking on his part.

Perhaps even more odd is the United Nations stance in the manner. Some years ago there was an attempt to secure a treaty to protect Titanic from further salvage. The proposed signatories would have been Britain, France, Canada, and the United States. The Titanic Treaty was never formally ratified and thus never came into effect (supposedly because France did not want to sign). But UNESCO apparently has included Titanic as protected under a 2001 convention on underwater cultural heritage. This comes into effect this year according to MSNBC thus any further salvage would allow parties to the convention to seize artifacts and prevent exploration that is “deemed unscientific or unethical.”

The problem is that no one is going to enforce this if the party involved either follows maritime law to salvage or is simply diving down to view the wreck. Simply diving down to view is allowed despite a foolish court action by RMS Titanic, Inc years ago to stop it (they lost, by the way). And UNESCO can do nothing if artifacts are raised and taken to a country that tells them to take a hike (like China or Russia). This sounds like your typical feel good thing that makes one feel good but actually achieves very little in the end.

That leaves Doug Wooley, who claims to own Titanic and wants to raise it, with a problem. Good luck on that Doug, 🙂

Titanic News Stories for 20 Oct 2011

1. Premier Exhibitions, Inc. Acquires Titanic-Themed Exhibition in Orlando (18 Oct 2011,MarketWatch-Press Release)
Premier Exhibitions, Inc. PRXI +0.53% , a leading presenter of museum-quality touring exhibitions around the world, announced today it entered into an agreement to purchase the assets of a Titanic-themed exhibition (Titanic The Experience) in Orlando, Florida. The acquisition of Titanic The Experience enables Premier to immediately begin generating revenue in this established entertainment facility. In addition, the acquisition provides the Company with an existing multi-million dollar exhibition with minimal startup costs and an attractive ongoing cost structure relative to building a new Titanic themed exhibition in Orlando. As a result, the Company is able to enter a prime tourist destination market for a nominal initial investment. “This acquisition provides a great opportunity to expand our semi-permanent installations into one of the preeminent tourist markets in the world,” said Christopher Davino, Premier Exhibitions, Inc. president and chief executive officer. “We look forward to enhancing Titanic The Experience and bringing an engaging exhibition that will not only capture the imagination of visitors but provide Orlando with an additional world-class entertainment destination.”

2. Diagrams From Titanic Inquest To Be Auctioned (19 Oct 2011, The Associated Press)
The two diagrams, which are among more than 370 lots of Titanic memorabilia in next week’s sale, are more modest in scale. One showing deck levels and the placement of lifeboats measures 74 inches (188 centimeters) by 56 inches (142 centimeters). The presale estimate is 40,000-60,000 pounds ($63,000-$95,000). The other — a plan of first-class accommodations, including pictures of some of the cabins — measures 29 inches by 41 inches (74 centimeters by 104 centimeters). The estimated price is 30,000-50,000 pounds ($48,000-$80,000).

3. Lifeboat Believed To Be From Titanic On Display Starting Saturday (19 Oct 2011, Shore News Today)
In December of 2007, Absecon Lighthouse came into possession of a donated Titanic exhibit, which included a Titanic-era original Harland and Wolff Lifeboat, circa 1909, believed to be one of the Titanic lifeboats. The boat matches the description from the official British enquiry of the Titanic disaster.  The Carpathia, the ship that rescued Titanic survivors, brought 13 Titanic lifeboats back to New York.  Although the fate of the boats is unclear, they may have been put back into service aboard other White Star liners.  The boat could potentially be the only lifesaving boat from the Titanic in existence today.

Titanic Musings

Sorry folks for not posting in a while. Things have been somewhat hectic lately.

1) On the auction front, there has been some interesting items that sold. An affidavit signed by Titanic survivor Laura Francatelli fetched $31,937. A poster of Titanic from 1912 sold for $95,792.

2) Titanic:The Artifact Exhibition is coming to London’s 02 Arena starting on 2 Nov 2010.

3) Despite criticism from some quarters, reports indicate that bookings for the Titanic 2012 cruises are filling up.

4) Blast from the past: From press reports it appears the owners of Deepwater Horizon, the rig involved in the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, plan to use the same liability law that Titanic’s owners did in 1912. The Limitation of Liability Act limits the liability of the owner of a vessel to the value of its interest in the vessel at the end of the voyage. In 1912 this law was used by the owners to limit their liability to just under $92,000 (the value of surviving lifeboats and equipment). Thus claims made against White Star were limited to that amount no matter the actual value of the loss.

5) The recent Titanic 2 movie was exactly as predicted. It came out and sank quickly.

6) Ghostly Titanic? Every year I learn of some Titanic connected ghost story. Personally the one that makes the grade is from Ghostbusters II when Titanic docks and its passengers (all ghosts) disembark!

7) Your hear strange things on the Internet. Someone out there claimed that the salvage award was not done in the right court of law or that the judge was the wrong one. In the United States, federal courts have original jurisdiction on all admiralty and maritime cases. And judges that hear those cases are federal not state judges. Sometimes federal judges are referred to as district judges. Since federal courts are judicial districts, a federal judge can also be referred to as a federal district judge.

While people can disagree on whether salvage of Titanic was right or wrong, RMS Titanic Inc (RMST) did follow correct procedure by going to a U.S. federal court to get a salvage award. Since they had items in their possession which came from Titanic, this allowed the court (under recognized salvage law) to gain jurisdiction. The original decision, with modifications made by an appeals court, has been upheld. Just because Titanic was flying the Union Jack in 1912 does not confer immunity from salvage as some might claim. Salvage law allows for this to happen since it presumes salvage is done on behalf of the owner.