Historic Life Jacket Sells at Record-Breaking Titanic Auction

A life jacket donned by a passenger aboard the infamous RMS Titanic was sold at auction on Saturday for £670,000 ($906,000). The flotation device, worn by first-class passenger Laura Mabel Francatelli, was inscribed by her and fellow survivors from the same lifeboat.

The article was the highlight of Titanic memorabilia auctioned by Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, England, fetching significantly more than the expected £250,000 to £350,000. The sale also featured a Titanic lifeboat seat cushion, scooped up for £390,000 by two Titanic museums in the U.S.

These record-breaking prices underscore the lasting allure of the Titanic saga, illustrating the reverence of its passengers and crew. Billed as "practically unsinkable," the Titanic's sinking in 1912 is still a global point of fascination, partly due to the diversity of its passengers.