A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of Titanic victim Isidor Straus is expected to fetch $1.3 million at auction, the BBC reports. Straus, a Bavarian-born American businessman and co-owner of Macy's department store, perished with his wife, Ida, when the Titanic sank in 1912. The 18-carat gold Jules Jurgensen watch, believed to have been a gift from Ida to Isidor in 1888, was found on Straus' body when it was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean days after the sinking, and it was later returned to his family. The watch's hands are stopped at 2:20am, reportedly the moment the Titanic disappeared beneath the Atlantic.
Isidor's great-grandson ultimately had the movement repaired and restored, and a direct descendant of the Strauses is putting the timepiece up for auction. Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge says the timepiece is "a phenomenal piece of memorabilia" and one of the most valuable Titanic artifacts to be sold. The watch will be offered by Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire on Nov. 22, along with a letter Ida wrote aboard the Titanic describing the ship's luxury. The letter, postmarked in the Titanic's own post office, is expected to fetch nearly $200,000.
Aldridge says some might recognize Isidor and Ida as the "elderly couple hugging as the ship is sinking" at the end of James Cameron's 1997 Titanic film. Despite being some of the richest people aboard the ship, Isidor refused a spot in a lifeboat because there were still women and children on board, the Sun reports. Married 41 years, Ida also refused a spot, saying she'd rather die by her husband's side. The couple urged their maid to get on a lifeboat, and she survived.
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