In November, an 18k gold pocket watch, a gift from survivors of the Titanic to the captain of the R.M.S. Carpathia, which rescued them, was acquired at auction in the U.K. for $1.97 million, marking the highest-valued piece of Titanic memorabilia ever sold. Initial reports cited an anonymous buyer — until now. The buyer actually was Tiffany & Co., marking a return home for the timepiece.
“For this opportunity to arrive,” said Christopher Young, vice president of creative visual merchandising, events and The Tiffany Archives at Tiffany & Co., noting that the piece had come up at auction a decade ago. “I never would have thought that this would come up again. Never in a million years. There are pieces where you think, ‘Oh, someone’s acquired them for a museum. There’s no way.’ And then suddenly, for whatever circumstances, they become available. It’s just such an emotional return.”
As the story goes, the Tiffany & Co. timepiece was given by three prominent women — Mrs. Madeleine Talmage Astor, Mrs. Marian Longstreth Thayer and Mrs. Eleanor Elkins Widener — as a gesture of thanks to Capt. Arthur H. Rostron, who saved them, along with nearly 700 other passengers, when R.M.S. Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage in April 14 and 15, 1912.
A ledger in The Tiffany Archives records that the watch was purchased on May 24, 1912, by Mrs. G. D. Widener for $135. “What was special about it is, the three women who were on the Titanic, which, of course, were very affluent New York Gilded Age society. All three lost their husbands in the tragedy. These were women that were the wealthiest on board,” Young said. “Captain Rostron even provided his cabin for them. He let them take it over on the journey back to New York.
“Once they landed in New York less than a month later, they had conceived of a need for a gesture of thanks, a gesture of gratitude to acknowledge his heroism. And so they came to Tiffany,” he said of the tremendous piece of history, which is engraved with the inscription “Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912.”
The engraving, “Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912.”
The pocket watch is a link to Tiffany’s horological legacy, which dates back to 1847, when the American house began to retail watches and clocks. In 1874, the company opened its own manufacture in the heart of Geneva, to produce timepieces. “Notable is the balance wheel with adjustable screws, and particularly the blocked polished adjustment raquette, allowing for very precise regulation of the movement’s operation,” Young said of the pocket watch. “The escapement bridge is covered by a steel plate finished with blocked polishing, with the escapement wheel’s ruby meticulously set, signifying superior manufacturing quality. The setting of a ruby is indeed a mark of high-quality watchmaking, as these jewel bearings improve the movement’s precision and longevity.”
The American jeweler isn’t keeping the timepiece close to the vest, planning to share it first at LVMH Watch Week in Los Angeles in January with select clients and press and then to the public on a wider scale. “Our intent is with our important store openings we have coming up, we will present it as one of those special moments inside these new stores as an exclusive experience where Tiffany’s history can be celebrated through objects of historic importance,” Young said.
“This watch really celebrates gratitude. It celebrates heroism. This object is really one that also represents the Gilded Age of New York and Tiffany’s role, yet it’s totally relevant to the timepieces we offer today. Everyday, people come to us and trust us with those important moments in their life. They know with Tiffany, you can give something of importance and value that will be cherished for generations.”
