Titanic victim’s pocket watch to be auctioned for over Sh8.5 million

A watch recovered from the remains of a Titanic passenger is expected to attract a high price at an upcoming auction, with experts predicting it could be sold for as much as Sh8.5 million.

This pocket watch, belonging to Hans Christensen Givard, a 27-year-old Danish second-class passenger, was retrieved after the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912.

Givard had been on his way to the United States with two companions, both of whom also lost their lives in the tragedy.

The watch is among the few personal effects recovered from his body and has stayed within his family for over a century.

Set to go under the hammer on April 26 at Henry Aldridge and Son, a well-known auction house in Devizes, Wiltshire, the timepiece is drawing attention from collectors and Titanic historians alike.

"This piece is documented in the official list of Hans' effects compiled by the authorities in the weeks after the Titanic disaster and has remained in his family ever since," said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge.

Aldridge described the item as a haunting reminder of that fateful night: "The watch's movement is frozen in time at the moment the cold North Atlantic waters consumed not only its owner but the most famous ocean liner of all time, the Titanic, on 15 April 1912."

Other items found with Givard included a savings book, some money in a wallet, keys, a compass, and a passport.

After his body was recovered from the Atlantic, his belongings were sent back to his brother in Denmark.

Givard was laid to rest in Halifax, Canada, where many of the Titanic victims are buried.

Over the years, his story has remained a point of interest in Denmark, even inspiring a book about the experiences of Danish passengers aboard the Titanic.

The watch, showing signs of corrosion from saltwater, was also displayed in a 2012 exhibition in Copenhagen that focused on the Scandinavian perspective of the maritime tragedy.