‘Gold watch ‘exchanged for spot on Titanic lifeboat’ goes under the hammer’

The gold watch has been at the centre of debate for more than a century (Picture: SWNS)

A gold watch rumoured to have been used as a bribe to gain a family’s spot on a Titanic lifeboat is set to fetch as much as £50,000 at auction.

The watch was handed to a crew member by a passenger during the sinking of the British ocean liner in 1912.

However, it remains debated to this day whether its owner used the timepiece to bribe a stoker for a lifeboat spot for his family – or merely gifted it in gratitude.

Now, the 19th-century watch is set for sale with auctioneers John Nicholson’s, and is expected to fetch between £30,000 and £50,000.

The gold watch remains at the centre of one of the most controversial tales involving the disastrous sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage.

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