Irish Titanic survivor’s watch sells for €19,000
The 18-carat gold watch stopped ticking on the day the ship sank, when Nora Keane of Co Limerick was rescued by a lifeboat.
It sold for $24,675 €19,200 at an auction featuring dozens of items salvaged from the doomed luxury liner in Massachusetts.
Ms Keane had emigrated to Pennsylvania and was returning to the US on the Titanic's maiden voyage after a four-month visit to see her mother in Castle Connell, Co Limerick.
The watch had been given to her as a good luck gift but was damaged as her lifeboat passed under the ship's pump discharge.
Jon Baddeley, marine collectibles expert at Bonhams & Butterfields auction house, said the watch had been stopped ever since.
A message engraved on the back read: "To my dearest Nora, your visit to County Limerick warmed my heart. God bless and be with you on your return to Pennsylvania." It was signed: "Loving mother."
No other information was available about Ms Keane. The items belonged to a British private collector and both buyer and seller wished to remain anonymous.
The auction raised a total of more than $150,000 (€116,618) and included the only known example of a third-class menu, dated April 14, 1912.
It features a picture of the Titanic and the day's menu, which included roast beef and gravy for dinner and stewed figs and rice for tea. It sold for $44,650 (€34,718).
