As you will recall, the gold watch that John Jacob Astor had on him when he died was put up for auction and sold for $1.175 million. The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse group posted online (Twitter and probably elsewhere) that they hoped the buyer would put it up for display and not keep it in a private collection.

“We are increasingly uneasy with the auctioning of recovered Titanic family artifacts. We hope John Jacob Astor’s watch now finds its way to a museum and not into the hands of a private collector never to be seen again.” (Titanic Lighthouse Memorial)

Others on the Internet chimed in agreeing with and going further. Some did not understand that such items are not from the Titanic wreck itself and thought salvage laws apply. They do not, of course, since these items were not brought up from the wreck. The auction house, Henry Aldridge & Son, which handles a lot of these auctions, were surprised by the pushback. For their part, they do point out that in many cases the purchaser does elect to put it on public display at a Titanic exhibition or museum. Of course, some may not do that and just add it to their Titanic collection. Both sides have a valid viewpoint.

On one hand, we would like such memorabilia connected to Titanic put on public display. In this case, the watch is made of 14 carat gold, which makes it extremely up there with a Faberge egg in terms of its uniqueness. The other hand is that these items were held in private hands and not part of any public collection (meaning formerly owned by a museum etc.) so we cannot compel a private citizen who purchases such items to put them on display. I know one collector of music who loans out his collection to museums and gets a nice tax break because of it. Hopefully the person who purchased this watch will loan it out to museums. One does not see a 14-carat gold watch every day.

Note: The violin case that held Wallace Hartley’s violin was auctioned off at the same time. It was sold for £290,000 ($361,955). Titanic Memorial Lighthouse has posted this message on Twitter about it:

“As the world’s largest group of Titanic descendants we ask the new owners of Bandleader Wallace Hartley’s valise to reunite it with his violin currently at Titanic Belfast. These unique artifacts must be publicly displayed for future generations to study and enjoy.”

Sources:

Khosla, Alanah. “Auction House Hits Back in Row Over Sale of Gold Pocket Watch Recovered From the Body of the Richest…” Mail Online, 30 Apr. 2024, www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13359381/Auction-house-hits-row-sale-gold-pocket-watch-recovered-body-richest-man-Titanic-1million-fans-claim-museum.html.

Save Titanic Memorial Lighthouse [@TitanicNewYork] BREAKING NEWS! Titanic Bandleader Wallace Hartley’s Violin Case sells for £290,000 / $362,000 in an ‘Internet Bid’. Twitter. https://x.com/TitanicNewYork/status/1784246136691171687