A gold pocket watch that stopped ticking at the exact moment the Titanic disappeared beneath the Atlantic waves has just shattered auction records, selling for a staggering sum that proves tragedy and time can create priceless history.
Story Highlights
- Isidor Straus’s 18-carat gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch stopped at 2:20 AM when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912
- The Macy’s co-founder refused a lifeboat seat because women and children remained aboard the doomed ship
- The watch was recovered from Straus’s body and remained in family possession for 113 years before going to auction
- The timepiece was a birthday gift from his wife Ida in 1888, the same year he became full partner at Macy’s
When Wealth Meant Nothing Against Death
Isidor Straus stood among the wealthiest passengers aboard the Titanic, yet his fortune could not buy him safety when disaster struck. The 67-year-old Macy’s department store magnate faced the same terrifying choice as every other soul on that doomed ship. Unlike others who scrambled for lifeboats, Straus made a decision that would define his legacy forever.
His wife Ida had given him the exquisite Jules Jurgensen timepiece in February 1888 for his 43rd birthday, marking the same year he and his brother Nathan became full partners in what would become America’s largest retail empire. The 18-carat gold watch, engraved with his initials “IS,” became his constant companion through decades of business success.
The Final Countdown to Catastrophe
When the Titanic struck an iceberg on that frigid April night, time itself became the enemy. Passengers had precious little of it as the “unsinkable” ship tilted toward its watery grave. Straus refused multiple opportunities to board lifeboats, stating that women and children must go first. His moral compass pointed true north even as his ship pointed toward the ocean floor.
Days later, recovery crews found his body floating in the Atlantic, the gold watch still tucked in his vest pocket. The timepiece had stopped at precisely 2:20 AM, creating an eerie timestamp of the exact moment the Titanic vanished beneath the waves. That frozen moment in time would become one of history’s most poignant artifacts.
A Century of Family Stewardship Ends
The watch returned to the Straus family through his son Jesse, beginning a 113-year journey through generations. Kenneth Hollister Straus, Isidor’s great-grandson, carefully restored the watch’s movement while preserving its haunting stopped time. The family’s decision to finally sell this treasured heirloom marked the first time direct descendants offered it publicly.
Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, conducted the November 22, 2025 sale. The auction house expected the watch to exceed £1 million, placing it among the most valuable Titanic artifacts ever sold. A accompanying letter from Ida Straus, written aboard the Titanic and postmarked at Queenstown, Ireland, was tipped to fetch £150,000.
