For the first time, life jacket of Titanic survivor put up for auction in Britain

An auction house in the UK has put up for sale the life jacket of Titanic survivor Laura Mabel Francatelli. The expected value of the lot is between GBP 250,000 and GBP 350,000.

This is reported by CNN.

The life jacket belonging to Laura Mabel Francatelli has come up for auction for the first time as an item associated with a Titanic survivor. Auction house Henry Aldridge and Son said the items had never been offered for sale before.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the owner had decided to sell the item to pass it on to another collector. He called it a "once-in-a-generation opportunity".

The lot is estimated to fetch between GBP 250,000 and GBP 350,000, or about USD 339,000 and USD 474,000.

Laura Mabel Francatelli was travelling first class as a secretary to fashion designer Lucy Duff Gordon. She was travelling with her and her husband Cosmo Duff Gordon to Chicago. All three survived after boarding lifeboat No. 1.

The auction house said the jacket contained the signatures of Francatelli and other survivors of the boat.

The watch of 67-year-old Isidor Straus, who was among the few first-class passengers who did not survive, sold for GBP 1.78 million - about USD 2.31 million / UAH 99.0 million - the highest price ever paid for a Titanic relic.