DEVIZES — A life jacket worn by a first-class passenger on RMS Titanic sold at auction for 670,000 pounds at a Henry Aldridge & Son sale of Titanic memorabilia in Devizes. The cream-colored canvas life jacket, filled with cork sections, went to an unidentified telephone bidder for well over its presale estimate of 250,000 to 350,000 pounds.

The item was worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli and fetched the highest price among lots in the sale. It has previously been displayed at museums in the United States and Europe.

"These record-breaking prices illustrate the continuing interest in the Titanic story, and the respect for the passengers and crew whose stories are immortalized by these items of memorabilia," auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said. The prices include an auction-house fee known as the buyer's premium.

A seat cushion from one of the Titanic lifeboats sold at the same auction for 390,000 pounds to the owners of two Titanic museums in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri. Both items were among a broader offering of Titanic memorabilia at the Devizes sale.

Francatelli was traveling with her employer, fashion designer Lucy Duff Gordon, and Lucy Duff Gordon's husband, Cosmo Duff Gordon. All three survived in lifeboat No. 1, which was launched carrying 12 people despite having capacity for 40. The lifeboat's failure to pick up survivors from the frigid water became a source of controversy. Its occupants were eventually picked up by RMS Carpathia.

The Titanic struck an iceberg off Newfoundland during its maiden voyage from England to New York and sank within hours on April 15, 1912. Approximately 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crew aboard died. Passengers on the voyage came from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.

Other Titanic items have sold for high prices at recent auctions. In 2025, a collector paid over $2 million for a gold pocket watch linked to the ship. The 18-carat watch was gifted to Isidor Straus, an American businessman and owner of Macy's, by his wife, Ida Straus, for his 43rd birthday. The Strauses, both first-class passengers, gave up their lifeboat spots for younger people after the Titanic struck the iceberg, according to the U.K. government's National Archives.

In 2024, a gold pocket watch given to the captain of RMS Carpathia, which rescued 700 Titanic survivors, sold at auction for 1.56 million pounds. That sale also set a record at the time for Titanic-related memorabilia at auction.