Arthur Rostron made heroic efforts as the captain of the RMS Carpathia to rescue passengers and saved over 700 survivors from the Titanic's lifeboats. As a token of their appreciation, he was gifted a luxury 18ct gold Tiffany & Co. timepiece by the widows of high-profile businessmen, John Jacob Astor, George Dunton Widener and John B.
Thayer - victims of RMS Titanic’s sinking. The timepiece is set to be auctioned but before then, it’s on loan to Titanic Belfast from Wiltshire auction house Henry Aldridge and Sons until the end of October. Madeleine Talmage Astor, Marian Longstreth Thayer and Eleanor Elkins Widener, whose husbands were considered three of the wealthiest businessmen in the world at the time, presented the pocket watch to Rostron “with heartfelt gratitude and appreciation” during a lunch at the Astor mansion in New York on May 31 1912, exactly one year after Titanic’s launch.
The pocket watch joins another of Captain Rostron’s heroic gifts, the Carpathia Loving Cup, which was presented to him by one of Titanic’s most famous survivors, Molly Brown. The Loving Cup is now permanently displayed as part of the Titanic Experience along with a collection of other rare artefacts. The pocket watch will be free for the public to view on the Level 1 Apex of Titanic Belfast until October 31 before it goes to auction and will also be part of the visitor attraction’s Titanic Experience by Night events being held every Friday evening throughout August.
Judith O.