The ocean liner set sail from the United Kingdom on its maiden voyage April 12, 1912, bound for the United States. The ship never made it, striking an iceberg and sinking into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean and taking to a watery grave. Hundreds of people did survive the famous incident, and many of those climbed to safety aboard the RMS Carpathia. The captain of that ship at that time was Arthur Rostron, and he diverted his ship from its stated course in order to help try to rescue Titanic survivors. Rostron and his crew saved more than 700 people on that cold night. As a way of expressing their gratitude, three widows of prominent men who died on the Titanic gave Captain Rostron a pocket watch.

One of the widows was Madeleine Astor, whose husband, John Jacob Astor IV, went down with the ship. Astor's own pocket watch was found on his body several days later, and that watch recently sold at auction for a then-record £1.17 ($1.5 million).) The other two widows were Mrs. John B. Thayer and Mrs. George D. Widener. All three widows' names are inscribed on the watch that they gave to Rostron.

Rostron's watch, made of 18-carat gold by Tiffany's, sold at an auction put on by Henry Aldridge and Sons for £1.56 million ($1.97 million). An unnamed private collector secured the winning bid.

Rostron, who had been captain of the Carpathia only since January 1912, won wide praise for his actions in helping save so many from the Titanic. The U.S. Congress awarded him the Medal of Honor, and the U.K. named him a Knight Commander of the British Empire. Another group of survivors presented him with a silver cup, which sold at auction in 2015 for $200,000. After serving aboard a handful of ships in World War I (including during the Gallipoli campaign), he continued in his job with the Cunard line, retiring in 1931. In his later years, he published an autobiography titled Home from the Sea.