Titanic hero’s rare gold watch to fetch over $100k at England auction

A gold watch presented to the engineer of a steamship which rescued more than 700 passengers from the Titanic could sell for about £100,000 at auction in Kent.

As per Kent Live report, John Richardson was the sixth engineer aboard the RMS Carpathia, a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger ship that rescued survivors from the Titanic’s lifeboats.

The Carpathia, on its way from New York for Europe, changed course after the ship's wireless operator picked up the distress call "we've struck ice, come at once."

It set off at full speed and reached the Titanic two hours after it had sunk in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, with the loss of 1,500 lives.

The 18-carat gold timepiece, hallmarked 1912, is engraved “Presented to J. Richardson as a mark of appreciation for conspicuous services rendered R.M.S. Titanic, 15th April 1912.”

The watch will go under the hammer in Penshurst near Tunbridge Wells on April 22.

Director of Hansons Auctioneers in Penshurst Justin Matthews, said, "When I first held it in my hand I had goose bumps - it was spine tingling to know its connections to one of the most famous, and tragic, events of the 20th century. It is an honour to offer it for sale."

Richardson, then aged 26, was one of several engineers honoured by the Liverpool-based Carpathia Engineers’ Presentation Fund, whose founders believed the vital role the below deck crew played in the rescue had been woefully overlooked.