Titanic Victim’s Saltwater-Stained Pocket Watch, Recovered from His Body and Preserved by Family for Over a Century, to Be Auctioned for Up to €50,000
A lady’s gilded pocket watch, recovered from the body of a Danish passenger who perished in the Titanic disaster, could sell for up to €50,000 ($66,000) at an upcoming auction.
The timepiece belonged to Hans Christensen Givard, a 27-year-old second-class passenger who was among the 1,500 people who died when the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in 1912. Givard was en route to the United States with two friends, both of whom also perished in the tragedy.
Givard’s body was later recovered from the North Atlantic and buried in Halifax, Canada. Among his personal effects found were a savings book, keys, cash, a silver watch, a compass, a passport and the saltwater-corroded lady’s pocket watch.
His belongings were returned to his brother in Denmark, and the watch has since remained with his descendants, who have now decided to put it up for sale.
The pocket watch was featured in the book Titanic, De Danske Fortællinger (Titanic, The Danish Stories), co-authored by curator Jesper Hjermind and his niece, journalist Mette Hjermind McCall, who were inspired by Givard’s story.
It was also displayed as a highlight at a Titanic memorabilia exhibition in Tivoli, Copenhagen, in 2012, curated by Claes Goran Wetterholm, a global authority on the Scandinavian link to the Titanic.
The watch is set to go under the hammer at Henry Aldridge and Son, a renowned auction house in Devizes, Wiltshire, on April 26.
“This piece is documented in the official list of Hans’s effects compiled by the authorities in Halifax shortly after the disaster,” said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge. “Its movement is frozen in time capturing the very moment the icy Atlantic claimed not only Givard’s life but also that of the Titanic herself.”
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