A gold pocket watch belonging to Isidor Straus, one of the wealthiest passengers aboard the Titanic, has fetched a staggering £1.78 million at auction, shattering previous records for Titanic memorabilia and reigniting global fascination with the ship’s tragic legacy. The sale, which took place on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, drew international attention and highlighted the enduring emotional resonance of the ill-fated liner’s story—especially the devotion exemplified by Isidor and his wife, Ida Straus.
The 18-carat Jules Jurgensen pocket watch, engraved with Straus’s initials, was recovered from his body after the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912. It stopped at precisely 02:20—the moment the great ship slipped beneath the waves, taking over 1,500 souls with her. According to BBC, the watch had remained a treasured family heirloom for generations before Isidor’s great-grandson, Kenneth Hollister Straus, had its movement repaired and restored in preparation for the auction.
The sale price not only eclipsed the previous record of £1.56 million (set last year for a gold watch given to the captain of the RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued more than 700 Titanic survivors) but also set a new benchmark for Titanic-related collectibles. Altogether, the auction of Titanic memorabilia—including a letter written by Ida Straus, a passenger list, and a gold medal awarded to the Carpathia crew—reached a remarkable £3 million, as reported by The Guardian and Daily Mail.
Isidor Straus’s journey to that fateful night began decades earlier. Born into a Jewish family in Otterberg, Bavaria, in 1845, he emigrated to the United States with his family in 1854. By 1888, the year he received the now-famous pocket watch as a 43rd birthday gift from Ida, Isidor had become a partner in Macy’s, the iconic New York department store. His life story was one of ambition and achievement, but it is his final hours—immortalized in both historical accounts and James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film "Titanic"—that have cemented his and Ida’s place in the public imagination.
The Strauses were first-class passengers, returning from a trip to Jerusalem in January 1912. After traveling on the RMS Caronia, they boarded the Titanic in Southampton for their journey home to New York. As the Titanic began to founder after striking an iceberg, the couple made their way to the boat deck. Though Isidor was offered a seat on a lifeboat due to his age, he refused, insisting that younger men should be saved first. Ida, in a gesture of unwavering devotion, declined her own place, declaring she would not leave her husband’s side.
Contemporary accounts and later retellings, including their portrayal in Cameron’s film as the elderly couple clinging to each other in their final moments, have made their story one of the most poignant of the disaster. According to auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, "The Strauses were the ultimate love story, Ida refusing to leave her husband of 41 years as the Titanic sank, and this world record price is testament to the respect that they are held in."
Ida’s body was never recovered, but Isidor’s was found days after the sinking, with the watch among his personal effects. The timepiece, a symbol of both material wealth and sentimental value, was eventually returned to the Straus family and passed down through generations. Its journey from the depths of the Atlantic to the auction block is a tale in itself—a bridge between personal tragedy and collective memory.
The auction featured several other remarkable items, each offering a tangible connection to the Titanic’s story. A letter written by Ida Straus on Titanic stationery, which she posted while aboard the ship, sold for £100,000. In the letter, addressed to a family friend and postmarked ‘TransAtlantic 7’, Ida described the luxury of the Titanic and recalled a near-collision with the SS New York as the ship left Southampton. “What a ship! So huge and so magnificently appointed. Our rooms are furnished in the best of taste and most luxurious,” she wrote, before noting, “Size seems to bring its troubles. Mr Straus, who was on deck when the start was made, said at one time it looked painfully near to the repetitions of the Olympic’s experience on her first trip out of harbour, but the danger was soon averted, and we are now well on our course across the channel to Cherbourg.”
Other items included a Titanic passenger list, which fetched £104,000, and a gold medal awarded to the RMS Carpathia crew by grateful survivors, which was purchased for £86,000. The total proceeds from the auction, as reported by The Guardian and BBC, underscored the undiminished public interest in the Titanic and the stories of those who sailed on her.
Isidor and Ida Straus’s legacy is more than a tale of wealth or tragedy; it is a narrative of love, principle, and sacrifice. As Andrew Aldridge observed, "Every man, woman and child passenger or crew had a story to tell and they are told 113 years later through the memorabilia." The Strauses’ decision to remain together, even in the face of certain death, continues to resonate as a testament to the human spirit.
For many, the Titanic disaster is not just a historical event but a touchstone for reflections on fate, fortune, and the bonds that define us. The record-breaking sale of Isidor Straus’s pocket watch is not merely a financial milestone. It is, above all, a reminder of the enduring power of memory and the stories that connect us across generations and continents.
