Women and children were given priority in the scramble to board lifeboats in the early hours of April 15, which separated hundreds of couples and families. This pocket watch was found with Russian passenger Sinai Kantor, who tragically died in the icy waters after successfully helping his wife Miriam onto lifeboat number 12.

The couple had purchased two second-class tickets for the voyage to New York at a cost of around £26, which is equivalent to just over $3k today. The watch was put up for auction by Heritage Auctions in 2018, and the winning bid of $57,500 was made by John Miottel, who collects timepieces linked to the catastrophe.

The watch went up for auction again on November 11, 2023, smashing its previous record and selling for $119k at London auction house Henry Aldridge and Son Ltd – part of the same auction that also featured the first-class menu from April 11, 1912 and the embroidered blanket.

Tragic treasures: the most valuable items retrieved from the Titanic