Titanic memorabilia up for auction this month including a victim’s watch worth $66,000
The descendants of one of the passengers who drowned when the Titanic sank are selling a pocket watch that was found among his belongings.
The Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage in 1912, which became one of history’s most infamous maritime tragedies. Considered ‘unsinkable’, the vessel hit an iceberg which opened up a gash so big that the system to keep it afloat for just such an event was overwhelmed. Of the nearly 1,500 people that lost their lives in the disaster, only 337 bodies were recovered from the freezing waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
One of those was 27-year-old Hans Christensen Givard of Denmark. He perished along with the two companions with whom he was traveling in second class to the United States. The belongings that were on him were returned to his brother in Denmark. Among them was a ladies’ pocket watch which his descendants have decided to sell. It will be auctioned off along with other Titanic memorabilia this month.
Titanic memorabilia up for auction
Henry Aldridge and Son, a British auction house that regularly holds auctions of Titanic memorabilia, will start taking bids on the latest collection of items from the ill-fate voyage and more on 26 April 2025. Items include a handwritten letter and a third-class ticket that belonged to two passengers that perished during the Titanic sinking as well as a range of RMS Titanic collectables.
As for Givard’s silver and brass timepiece, it is described as a “gilded ladies’ pocket watch” on the auction house’s website. It has Roman numerals and outer Arabic numerals set on a white enamel dial whose hands are missing. It also bears traces of saltwater corrosion and the gilding of the case, decorated with turtle doves, is worn.
A ladies’ pocket watch found among the belongings of one the passengers who drowned on the Titanic could sell for up to £50,000 at auction in Wiltshire this month.
— ITV News West Country (@itvwestcountry) April 15, 2025
Danish second-class passenger Hans Christensen Givard died at the age of 27 when the vessel struck an iceberg in… pic.twitter.com/PE5uiIDTDU
The starting bid is £18,000 (roughly $23,900) but is expected to fetch between £30,000 and £50,000 ($39,800 and $66,300). Other pocket watches associated with the Titanic that have gone up for auction have sold for much more.
April last year, bidding, which started at £60,000, on a 14-carat gold Waltham pocket watch worn by the richest man aboard the Titanic, John Jacob Astor IV, far exceeded expectations when it sold for £1,175 million.
Just months later, the gold pocket watch that was given to Capt. Arthur Rostron of the R.M.S. Carpathia, which rescued 700 survivors from the Titanic, also surpassed estimates for how much it would fetch, selling for £1.56 million.
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