News about Wallace Hartley

Patrick Gruhn triumphed in a fierce bidding war on Saturday to secure the gold pocket watch worn by John Jacob Astor IV on the doomed ship when it went down in April 1912. Gruhn was head of the company's European business when FTX collapsed in late 2022 after stealing $8 billion from investors. They have yet to see any of their money returned while Gruhn has agreed to pay just $33 million of the $323 million that FTX paid him for his business in what receivers have described as a 'massive overpayment'. 'The irony of this cannot be overstated,' tweeted finance writer Erin Arvendlund.

The timepiece (pictured) belonged to John Jacob Astor IV, a US business magnate who was among more than 1,500 people who died when the ship struck an iceberg in the early hours of April 15, 19772. His 14-carat gold Waltham watch was sold at Henry Aldridge & Son auction house in Wiltshire for a record-breaking £1.175 million, six times the guide price, matching the record paid for a Titanic artifact - the violin played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley. The sale has led to criticism on social media, with users taking to X, formerly Twitter, to slam the sale, claiming that the piece should be displayed in a museum (insets). Users have slammed the sale of the gold pocket watch (pictured) recovered from the body of the richest man on the Titanic, adding that it should be displayed in a museum

The timepiece belonged to John Jacob Astor IV, a US business magnate who was among more than 1,500 people who died when the ship struck an iceberg in the early hours of April 15, 1912. His 14-carat gold Waltham watch was sold at Henry Aldridge & Son auction house in Wiltshire for a record-breaking £1.175 million, six times the guide price, matching the record paid for a Titanic artifact - the violin played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley. Mr Astor, a hotelier who was worth £55 million - about £7 billion today - went down with the ship after helping his pregnant wife Madeleine into a lifeboat.

A leather case that shielded the violin played by the bandmaster on the Titanic as the ship sank has been expected to sell for £120,000 at auction. As the 1912 disaster unfolded around them, Wallace Hartley and his orchestral band continued to reassure the passengers. Wallace went down with the ship but not before he reserving his wooden violin and clutching it to himself with the long handles, possibly for buoyancy.

They are everyday items that show the severity of the human tragedy of 1912, which claimed the lives of 1,500 people. Wallace Hartley (left), a violinist who performed with his colleagues after the ship sank beneath the waves of the North Atlantic after colliding with an iceberg, was discovered days after the tragedy with his violin (inset top) strapped to his chest. In James Cameron's 1997 film about the tragedy, he was depicted leading the band in a recreation of the hymn Nearer My God To Thee, as passengers scrambled to get into lifeboats. A pocket watch (top right) belonging to the ship's postmaster, which had been frozen in time as it entered the sea at the time. A letter (bottom right) written by a first-class passenger, who tragically told his mother, "if all goes well, we'll land in New York on Wednesday" - as well as a menu for the last meal on board were among the items discovered. The wreck itself recovered US dollar notes (inset bottom). After scientists developed a 3D 'digital twin' of the Titanic's this week, the wreck of the ship was revealed in unprecedented detail for the first time this week.