A Patek Philippe pocket watch recovered from the body of John Jacob Astor IV, the wealthiest passenger aboard the RMS Titanic, is heading to auction. The watch, sold by Tiffany & Co. in 1904, will be the leading lot in a Freeman's Auction sale in Chicago on April 22, carrying an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. A gold pencil found with it will also be sold.
The auction highlights the enduring market for Titanic artifacts and the poignant stories attached to them. Astor's calm farewell to his pregnant wife before perishing is a legendary moment from the disaster. The sale follows record-breaking auctions of other Titanic-linked watches, though Freeman's asserts the strength of this lot lies in its direct recovery from the body and its continuous, multigenerational provenance within the Astor family.