Apr. 13

BASEL, Switzerland - Steel and coal from the Titanic have been transformed into a new line of luxury wristwatches that claim to capture the essence of the legendary oceanliner which sank in 1912.

The North Atlantic wrecksite of the Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank on its first voyage from the English port of Southampton to New York, have been protected for more than a decade but many relics were taken in early diving expeditions.

Romain Jerome said it purchased a piece of the hull weighing about 1.5 kg (3 pounds) that was retrieved in 1991, but declined to identify the seller. The metal has been certified as authentic by the Titanic's builders Harland and Wolff.

To make the watches, which were offered for sale for the first time in Basel for between $7,800 and $173,100, the Swiss company created an alloy using the slab from the Titanic with steel being used in a Harland and Wolff replica of the vessel.

The gold, platinum and steel time pieces have black dial faces made of lacquer paint that includes coal recovered from the debris field of the Titanic wrecksite, offered for sale by the U.S. company RMS Titanic Inc.

The combination of new and old materials infused the watches with a sense of renewal, instead of representing a reminder of the 1,500 passengers who drowned when the oceanliner met her tragic end off the coast of Newfoundland.

The company will make 2,012 watches to coincide with the centenary anniversary of the Titanic's sinking in 2012.

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I want one of these! If they weren't so damn expensive I would buy one.

Dude. That's kinda cool. But wouldn't it be hard if the steel. Has been underwater since 1912?

This seems very wrong to think that people will be making a profit off of materials taken from the gravesite of 1500 people. It may be the most famous shipwreck in history, but many people died in the process of making it so. They should have left the metal underwater, or at the very least put the retrieved pieces into a museum, so people will remember it for what it was, a disaster.

How would you feel if you saw me on the street showing off my watch made of WTC steel? Its the same thing. There should be no glamour in others misfortune.

Well said Chronic!

Interesting, but I wouldn't want one....might get haunted.

^^
yeah...and it'd be all rusty...