Gold watch discovered on Titanic’s richest passenger worth an incredible £150k

A gold pocket watch recovered from the floating corpse of the richest man aboard the Titanic is to be auctioned tomorrow and it is expected to fetch around £150,000.

The watch belonged to business mogul John Jacob Astor, who in 1912 was one of the wealthiest men on the planet.

He was last seen smoking a cigarette on the bridge of the sinking ship, having been unable to board a lifeboat with his pregnant wife, Madeleine.

John and Madeleine had boarded the Titanic from Cherbourg, France on April 10, 1912 to return to America.

After being rebuffed by First Officer Charles Lightoller, the magnate didn’t attempt to clamber onto another rescue vessel, but instead chatted to other first class passengers as the ship descended into the freezing Atlantic.

The 47-year-old’s body was pulled from the sea seven days later. He was in a blue suit and brown flannel shirt and was identified by the initials JJA sewn into the lapel of his jacket.

His pocket watch, a 14-carat gold Waltham, which also bore his initials, was found on his person.

The prized timepiece, along with his £55 million estate - worth £7 billion today - was left to his son Vincent, who was 20 at the time.

The condition of the watch wasn’t known at the time, but it was 2am at the moment the ship and Astor sank and as such would have stopped working around then.

The watch was restored by Vincent and he wore it until 1935, when he gave it to his godson, William Dobbyn. Dobbyn’s father, who was also called William, was Astor’s executive secretary and was close with Vincent.

Unlike John and Madeleine, William Sr had stayed in France rather than boarding the Titanic - a move that almost certainly saved his life.

The gold timepiece was acquired in the 1990s by a private collector of Titanic memorabilia.

Now, it’s being auctioned off at specialist Titanic auctioneers called Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers of Devizes, Wiltshire. It is expected to go for between £100,000 and £150,000.

However, there isn’t just a watch on-sale. A pair of gold cufflinks owned by Astor and his plan of first-class accommodation on the Titanic are also being sold.

The document - foldable 30 inches by 40 inches - was used by William Dobbyn in Paris to plot the Astors’ journey and confirm the staterooms they’d be staying in. The document alone is valued at £30,000.