John Jacob Astor was last seen smoking a cigarette and chatting with a fellow passenger as the Titanic went down. His body was recovered from the Atlantic a week later - along with the pocket watch that will go on auction on Saturday.
A gold pocket watch that was recovered from the body of the richest man on the Titanic will be auctioned on Saturday. John Jacob Astor, 47, went down with the ship in 1912 after helping his wife on to a lifeboat. Rather than try his luck with another lifeboat, the impeccably dressed businessman, a prominent member of the wealthy Astor family, was last seen smoking a cigarette and chatting with a fellow passenger.
Mr Astor was thought to be one of the richest people in the world at the time of the Titanic's sinking, with a net worth of about $87m - equivalent to several billion dollars today, auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said. 'At first, Astor did not believe the ship was in any serious danger but later it was apparent she was sinking and the captain had started an evacuation after midnight, so he helped his wife into lifeboat four,' Mr Aldridge said. Mrs Astor survived.
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