Gold pocket watch recovered from body of richest passenger on Titanic up for auction

A gold pocket watch, which recovered from the body of the richest passenger on the Titanic, is up for auction.

Business tycoon John Jacob Astor was one of the richest men in the world when he boarded the Titanic in 1912 and was last seen smoking on the bridge as the ship sank, The Telegraph reports.

The 47-year-old man sank into the water after seeing his pregnant wife, Madeleine, in a lifeboat. He was taken away by First Officer Charles Lightoller, and rather than try his luck with another lifeboat, the impeccably dressed Astor was last seen smoking a cigarette on the starboard wing of the bridge while talking to another first-class passenger.

Astor's body was discovered in the North Atlantic seven days later. He was later identified by the initials JJA embroidered on the lapel of his jacket.

His gold Waltham pocket watch, which also had J.J.A on it, was found on his corpse.

The watch, along with his £55 million (£7 billion today) fortune, went to his 20-year-old son, Vincent.

Vincent Astor later restored and repaired the watch and wore it until 1935, when he gave it to his godson, William Dobbin. The latter's father, also William, was Astor's executive secretary and close to Vincent.

The gold watch was purchased from the Dobbin family by a private collector of Titanic memorabilia in the 1990s. Now they are being sold at a specialized auction of “Titanic” by Henry Aldridge. The watch is estimated at £100,000 to £150,000.