A Pocket Watch From the Titanic Surfaces and Sells for $57,500

Married couple Sinai and Miriam Kantor boarded the R.M.S. Titanic in Southampton, England on April 10, 1912. The Russian immigrants planned to study dentistry and medicine in the Bronx. Just five days later, Miriam was being ushered on a lifeboat, prioritized in the ship's women and children first mandate as it began to sink into the ocean. She survived. Sinai's body was recovered later.

Like all of the casualties retrieved by ships, Sinai's was taken in and his personal effects recorded. In addition to money, a passport, a notebook, a telescope, and a corkscrew, there was a pocket watch. Over 100 years later, the timepiece has now become part of a Titanic collector's assortment of watches from the doomed ship's excursion.

Heritage Auctions recently held a memorabilia auction, with Sinai's watch among the offerings. John Miottel, owner of Miottel Museum, made the winning bid of $57,500 for the item, which measures three inches in diameter and features Hebrew letters to represent numerals. A back etching depicts Moses holding the Ten Commandments.

The watch, which was handed over to Miriam along with Sinai's other personal effects, remained in the family throughout the 20th century before being put up for auction by a descendant. Miottel plans on adding it to a timepiece collection on display at the San Francisco Bay Area museum's Ocean Liner section. Miottel also owns three other watches recovered from the disaster.

While expensive, it's by no means the most valuable item to be retrieved from the waters surrounding the sunken ship. In 2017, a violin owned by bandleader Wallace Hartley sold for $1.7 million.

[h/t Economic Times]