A watch found on the body of American magnate John Jacob Astor IV after the RMS Titanic sinking has turned up at auction.

Astor’s Patek Philippe pocket watch, which Tiffany & Co. sold in 1904, will lead the April 22 sale of 63 timepieces and accessories that Freeman’s Auction is hosting in Chicago, bearing an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. A gold pencil discovered alongside it will hit the block too, with an estimate of $10,000 to $20,000.

Astor boarded the Titanic in France 114 years ago with his second wife, Madeleine, nearly 30 years his junior. A real estate developer, Astor built New York’s Astoria Hotel in 1897 and was the richest passenger on the vessel, with a net worth of some $80 million (more than $2 billion today). Freeman’s said that the Astors were heading home from a globetrotting honeymoon, a long excursion to evade the media maelstrom surrounding their marriage. Madeleine had discovered she was pregnant and wanted to deliver the couple’s first child in America.

John Jacob Astor IV. Photo courtesy of Freeman’s Auction.

That plan fell apart once the Titanic struck an iceberg. After some resistance, Astor escorted Madeleine onto a lifeboat—then heeded instructions to let women and children board the limited escape vessels first.

“Astor calmly stepped back, kissed Madeleine goodbye, and remained on deck as the evacuation continued,” press materials explained, calling the anecdote “one of the most poignant and widely remembered personal moments of the Titanic tragedy.”

Back of John Jacob Astor IV’s Patek Philippe for Tiffany & Co. 18K yellow gold pocket watch, property of the Astor Family. Photo courtesy of Freeman’s Auction.

The cable ship Mackay-Bennett located Astor’s body a week later, including his personal affects such as the watch, the gold pencil, and currency. Another watch allegedly found on Astor went to auction in 2024—and sold for $1.5 million, becoming the Titanic‘s most expensive artifact. That record was shattered by another watch recovered from Macy’s founder and fellow Titanic victim Isidor Straus, which sold for $2.3 million last November.

A 1912 inventory by Halifax officials clearly stated that Astor had only one watch on him. Freeman’s believes the one coming to auction is the real deal. “We’re not in a position to comment on any other objects not consigned to our firm or prior sales, but what’s important to understand is that the strength of this watch lies in its direct recovery, multigenerational family provenance, and supporting authentication,” a representative for the house told me over email.

John Jacob Astor IV’s Patek Philippe for Tiffany & Co. pocket watch and gold pencil. Photo courtesy of Freeman’s Auction.

Astor’s eldest son Vincent reportedly gave the other watch, which sold two years ago, to a family friend in 1935. Meanwhile, the engraved 18-carat yellow gold specimen that Freeman’s is selling has stayed in the family for generations. Vincent wore it his whole life. His wife received in 1959. When she died in 2007, the watch passed to her son—who bequeathed it to his wife Charlene in 2014.

Charlene died last year. Her estate is selling Astor’s watch, plus the 14-carat gold Battin & Co. pencil he received as a gift in 1904. The Newark-based firm that made this glitzy novelty closed after three decades in business during the 1920s.