The flotation device worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli, a first-class passenger, and signed by her and other survivors from the same lifeboat was estimated before the sale between $340,000 and $470,000.
Laura Mabel Francatelli, 31 years old, occupied cabin E-36, located 6 meters above the water.
She was the secretary of Lady Duff Gordon, a fashion designer, and her husband.
All three boarded lifeboat No. 1 with 9 other passengers, even though the boat could hold up to 40.
On April 18, during the same auction, a seat cushion from one of the Titanic’s lifeboats sold for $527,000 to the owners of two Titanic museums in Tennessee and Missouri.
The Titanic struck an iceberg off Newfoundland during its maiden voyage from England to New York. It sank within hours on April 15, 1912. About 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crew members died.
The Titanic remains a subject of worldwide fascination, and other sales have reached record levels:
- Isidor Straus’s gold pocket watch, $2.33 million in 2025
- The Carpathia Captain’s gold pocket watch, $2 million in 2024. It had been given by three survivors to Captain Arthur Rostron, who diverted his ship to rescue 700 survivors
- John Jacob Astor’s pocket watch, $1.47 million in 2024.
Sources :
– Titanic life jacket – lindependant.fr
– Titanic life jacket auctioned – CBS News
