Titanic artifact auctioned for record-breaking amount [Video]

A gold watch worn by John Jacob Astor IV, a member of the wealthy Astor family and the richest man aboard the Titanic, sold for a record-breaking £1.175 million (US$1.485 million) at auction on Saturday.

The timepiece sold for ten times its expected auction price of between £100,000 and £150,000.

Its high selling point has set a “new world record for Titanic memorabilia,” Andrew Aldridge, the managing director of auction house Henry Aldridge and Son, told CNN on Sunday.

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Astor was one of around 1,500 people who died when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg. His pregnant wife, Madeleine, survived.

The watch was among a number of notable items on offer at Henry Aldridge and Son in Wiltshire, England, on Saturday, including the valise that held the violin famously played …