Pocket watch belonging to couple who died together on Titanic sells for $2.3M

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Published  November 26, 2025 2:27pm EST
FOX Local

FILE - The gold watch of one of the Titanic’s most notable passengers has sold in Devizes for £1.78m ($2.3m). (Credit: Henry Aldridge and Son)

The Brief

    • A gold pocket watch belonging to a couple who died on the Titanic, sold for a record $2.3 million at auction.
    • The watch, gifted by his wife Ida and recovered from his body after the sinking.
    • The Strauses, remembered for Ida refusing a lifeboat to stay with her husband, became one of the Titanic’s most famous tragic love stories.

A pocket watch that belonged to one of the richest couples who died on the Titanic sold for a record-breaking $2.3 million (1.7 million pounds) at auction. 

Dig deeper:

The pocket watch belonged to Isidor Straus, an American businessman, politician and co-owner of Macy’s department store. 

The watch was gifted to him by his wife, Ida, for his 43rd birthday, according to Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd.

The gold pocket watch was recovered from Straus’ body a day after the Titanic sank. It allegedly stopped at 2:20 a.m. — the moment the ship became submerged.

It was returned to his son, Jesse, and remained in the family until this recent auction. Ida's body was never recovered. 

The watch is 18-carat gold and has the initials "IS" engraved on it. On the inner portion of the watch, the date, "February 6, 1888" is also inscribed on it. 

That was also the same year that Isidor and his brother, Nathan, became full partners of Macy's. 

Tragic love story

FILE - Image of Isidor and Ida Straus on a memorial cover from 1910. (Getty Images) 

The backstory:

Ida did not want to abandon her husband when the Titanic began to sink on April 14, 1912, and famously refused a spot in a lifeboat.

"One account stated they were last seen sitting on the deck arm in arm, although in [the film] ‘Titanic’ they were depicted lying side by side on the bed in their stateroom," according to auctioneer Andrew Aldridge.

What they're saying:

"My place is with you," she reportedly told him. "I have lived with you. I love you, and, if necessary, I shall die with you."

The Source: Information for this article was taken from the Henry Aldridge & Sons Ltd. auction website and previous reporting by FOX News. This story was reported from San Jose.

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