Titanic watch ‘frozen in time’ and postcard up for auction

By Tom Bevan

A rare postcard sent by a victim of the Titanic just days before the sinking is being sold at auction.

The sale of items linked to the fateful voyage also features a pocket watch from a victim 'frozen in time' and a luxury timepiece given to a "hero' of the sinking."

They are among hundreds of items going under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son, an auctioneer in Devizes, Wilts., specializing in Titanic memorabilia

The postcard, written by first-class passenger and British businessman Richard William Smith, was scrawled in pencil and sent from Cork in Ireland to Mrs Olive Dakin in Norwich.

It is postmarked 3.45 p.m., April 11, 1912 – three days before Smith and around 1,500 others perished at sea.

The correspondence, which is likely to have been among Smith’s last, states: “Have had a fine run around to Queenstown. Just leaving for the land of stars and stripes.”

It signs off: “Hope you are all quite well at home. Kindest regards, R.W.S.”

It is being sold by with a guide price of $10k.

Managing director Andrew Aldridge said Smith, a tea broker, had been traveling aboard Titanic with a family friend called Mrs Nicholls.

He added: "She was only going a quarter of the way as she was getting off in Queenstown, so he must have asked her to post the card.

“Titanic had just stopped in Queenstown to take on a load of passengers – little was anyone onboard aware what was on the horizon just 80 hours or so into the future,” he added.

“It’s a very powerful and poignant object because this is one of the last things that Mr. Smith wrote, first and foremost.”

Also part of Saturday's auction that is labeled the “Titanic, White Star and Transport Memorabilia” sale are two pocket watches linked to the tragedy.

One frozen in time when its owner Ramon Gomez went down with the ship is set to go under the hammer for $80,000.

Gomez, a Uruguayan first class passenger, supposedly jumped off the vessel whilst holding a deck chair in an attempt to save himself.

But it proved futile as his body was recovered from the sea a week later by the Cable Ship MacKay-Bennett.

His possessions were removed so they could be sent back to his family, including the Zenith Swiss silver and gilt watch.

The watch has remained 'frozen in time' at 4.53am, which was two hours and 33 minutes after the ship sank.

The family has kept hold of the watch for 112 years but are now selling it at the auction.

After the disaster the Consul General of Uruguay in New York went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to claim Gomez’s body and personal effects, which were forwarded to his brother in Uruguay.

The auctioneers say his watch is 'one of the most emotionally powerful' mementos of the disaster they have ever sold.

The watch has a rust-covered white dial and Arabic numerals and is missing the glass and second hand.

Mr Aldridge said: "Two months before boarding Titanic he wrote to his cousin expressing confidence in a safe crossing.

"He had previously survived the fire and sinking of the ship America by jumping off the deck.

"He wrote that with the advent of wireless, a ship in distress would be able to instantly communicate with the whole world.

"Here is a man with the utmost confidence in the latest technology that Titanic was showing would keep the ship safe.

"The fact that the watch is frozen in time by the cold North Atlantic that took both him and the Titanic confirms it as one of the most emotionally powerful objects that we have sold from the ship.

"It is a true museum piece and can easily represent the centerpiece of any Titanic or antique watch collection."

Also being auctioned is another timepiece given to a hero of the sinking by three widows.

The inside of the case is inscribed "Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912 Mrs John B. Thayer, Mrs John Jacob Astor and Mrs George D. Widener."

The luxury 18ct gold Tiffany & Co timepiece bears testament to the regard that Captain Rostron was held in by the widows of three of the most high-profile businessmen who died, John Jacob Astor, George Dunton Widener and John B. Thayer.

Captain Rostron’s quick reaction and bravery resulted in him and his crew rescuing over 700 surviving passengers and crew.

The watch was given to Rostron ‘with heartfelt gratitude and appreciation’ during a lunch on May 31st 2012 at the Astor mansion in New York and has a guide price up to $120k.

The auction house, which is based in Devizes, southwest England, holds two Titanic auctions a year. At its most recent auction in April, it sold a watch belonging to the richest passenger on the Titanic for 10 times its estimate.