For sale: £1m gold watch that went down with Titanic

Wealthy couple refused to leave ship

- BY PAUL VASS

Couple stayed on board ill-fated Titanic

A GOLD pocket watch recovered from the body of one of the richest passengers on the Titanic is being sold 113 years later for £1million.

Retail king Isidor Straus and his wife Ida were immortalised in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster movie as the elderly couple holding each other on their bed as the ship sank.

On the night of the 1912 disaster, devoted Ida refused a place in a lifeboat as she did not want to leave her husband, and said she would rather die by his side.

Isidor's body was recovered from the North Atlantic days later and his possessions were itemised.

They included his 18-carat gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch that had stopped at 2.20am - the moment the Titanic disappeared under the water.

The magnificent timepiece, which is engraved with the initials IS, was returned to his son Jesse along with his other effects.