Auction house hits back in row over sale of gold pocket watch recovered from ... trends now
Titanic enthusiasts have expressed concern after the pocket watch of the richest man on the ship - recovered when his body was fished out of the Atlantic seven days after the tragedy - was sold for a record-breaking £1.175 million this month.
The timepiece belonged to John Jacob Astor IV, a hotelier who was worth £55 million – about £7 billion today – who was among more than 1,500 people who died when the ship struck an iceberg in the early hours of April 15, 1972.
His 14-carat gold Waltham watch was sold at Henry Aldridge & Son auction house in Wiltshire for a record-breaking £1.175 million, six times the guide price, matching the record paid for a Titanic artifact – the violin played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley.
The sale has led to criticism on social media, with amateur historians taking to X, formerly Twitter, to slam the sale, claiming that the piece belonging to Mr Astor should be displayed in a museum.
However, the auction house has said that it's a misunderstanding to assume that such artefacts end up in private collections, with many going on display in museums around the world.
Users have slammed the sale of the gold pocket watch (pictured) recovered from the body of the richest man on the Titanic, adding that it should be displayed in a museum
John Jacob Astor IV left $69million of his $85million estate, equivalent to approximately $2.6billion in 2022, to his eldest son William Vincent Astor (right) who became the richest man in America
Mr Astor drowned after helping his pregnant wife Madeleine into a lifeboat,
His body was recovered from the North Atlantic seven days later dressed in a blue suit and brown flannel shirt. He was later identified by the initials 'JJA' engraved on the watch and sewn onto his jacket.
In response to the sale of the pocket watch, commenters have taken to X to express their concerns. One said: 'Either a museum or back to the descendants. No other option.'
The preservation group Titanic Memorial Lighthouse wrote: 'We are increasingly uneasy with the auctioning of recovered Titanic family artifacts. We hope John Jacob Astor's watch now finds its way to a museum and not into the hands of a private collector never to be seen again.'
A number of social media users took to X, formerly Twitter, to express their concern with the sale, claiming that the watch should be displayed in a museum
When MailOnline contacted Henry Aldridge & Son for comment, a spokesperson pointed out that only 'an extremely small number of individuals', have objected to the sale.
'The fact of the matter is many of these items end up in museums at some point after being purchased.
'In fact, all you have to do is look at Titanic Belfast where a large number of pieces from Titanic we have auctioned are on
