It is now 6:00 AM EST on November 23rd 2025. I just turned on BBC News: A gold pocket watch belonging to Titanic passenger Isidor Straus sold at auction in England for a record $2.3 million on November 22, 2025. The 18-karat watch, engraved with his initials and stopped at 2:20 a.m. (the time the ship sank), was recovered from his body and returned to his family, who passed it down through generations before having it restored. A letter written by his wife, Ida Straus, was also sold at the same auction for $131,000.
Watch Details: The watch is an 18-karat gold, 1888 Jules Jurgensen pocket watch. It was a gift to Isidor Straus for his 43rd birthday and is engraved with his initials. It was found stopped at the moment the ship sank, and the hands have since been repaired.
Owner: The watch belonged to Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy's, who died on the Titanic with his wife, Ida. The couple's story of staying together on the ship was famously depicted in the movie Titanic.
Auction and Price: The watch sold for a record-breaking $2.3 million (£1.78m) at a Henry Aldridge & Son auction in Wiltshire, England. This surpassed the previous record for Titanic memorabilia, which was set by another pocket watch that sold for approximately $1.9 million.
Hey Grok: what did that watch cost in 1912?
The gold pocket watch belonging to Isidor Straus (co-owner of Macy's and a first-class passenger who died on the Titanic with his wife Ida) was recovered from his body and is one of the most famous artifacts from the wreck.
Original purchase price when new (before 1912):
The watch was a high-end Waltham 14-karat gold hunter-case pocket watch (model 1894, “Riverside” grade, 17 jewels). In the 1890s–early 1900s, a top-grade 14-karat gold Waltham hunter-case watch of this quality typically retailed for $100 – $150 USD at the time it was purchased (roughly the late 1890s to around 1905–1910).
Adjusted for inflation:
$100–$150 in 1900 dollars is approximately $3,800 – $5,700 USD in 2025 dollars.
For context, that was a very expensive watch in its day — equivalent to a luxury Rolex or Patek Philippe today.
Auction history of the actual Titanic-recovered watch:
It was sold at auction by Henry Aldridge & Son (UK) in 2006 for £114,000 (about $220,000 USD at the time).
In October 2024, the same watch sold again for a record £1.52 million (approximately $1.95 million USD), the highest price ever paid for a Titanic artifact.
Ah, where you going with this Tom?
The key words from this post are: Sold at Auction. Adjusted for Inflation. Memorabilia. Artifacts. Luxury. Expensive. First Class Passenger.
This story is breaking news. Really? News is a general term for information about current events, reported on a schedule, while breaking news is urgent, unplanned news about an event that is happening now. Ah, but Breaking News often interrupts regular programming or publication schedules because of its immediacy and importance, such as a natural disaster or a major accident, and is reported as events unfold. Wow, OK. This pocket watch sale is breaking news.
THIS POST, today's Sunday Blog is about.... scarcity. Especially manufactured scarcity for economic gain.
Scarcity is the basic economic problem of having unlimited human wants and needs in a world of limited resources. It means there isn't enough of everything to go around, so choices must be made about how to use the available resources.
Unlimited wants: People always want more things, and their wants are often infinite.
Limited resources: The resources available to produce those things (like time, labor, or raw materials) are finite.
The need for choice: Because of this gap between unlimited wants and limited resources, societies must make choices about what to produce, how to produce it, and for whom to produce it.
In a few days the USA shall celebrate Thanksgiving. And food is scarce in the USA and around the world. There is not enough food to go around due to manufactured scarcity. Just like with that pocket watch. This is why FeedingAmerica.org exists. And this is why we have their link on page 1 (the main menu bar) of the NYDLA.org - they are our official charity.
What a world, right? How a $5,000 watch could be sold for $2.3 million. And that so many people wanted it that it sold at auction. Manufactured Scarcity.
I think about how Isidor and Ida Straus stayed on that ship. How they did not try to use their power and influence to get to a lifeboat. They loved each other - and they loved humanity. Their last act in life was to pay it forward. I bet they were the kind of people who would donate to FeedingAmerica.org what do you think?
Healthcare. Education. Hunger. Pocket Watches.
There is so much manufactured scarcity in the world.
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