The watch fetched �20,000

That was the moment eyewitnesses reported the "unsinkable" vessel disappearing under the ocean.

Passed on through Mr Gill's family, the watch was fitted with a new mechanism and dial, but the original dial was kept and has remained at the same time to mark the sinking which killed 1,521 people.

The watch was one of 316 objects sold at an auction organised by the British Titanic Society Convention to mark the disaster's 90th anniversary.

The convention is being held in Southampton, the ship's home port.

The stern of the Titanic, the final part of the 882-foot-long to sink from sight, was last seen at 2.20 am on 15 April 1912.

New life

Mr Gill, a chauffeur from Clevedon, had married wife Sarah two months earlier on Valentine's Day but had set out alone to America, having bought a second class ticket for �13, to start a new life for them.

His body was pulled from the water on 23 April and the watch and other items including coins, a comb and a collar stud were recovered.

Both the watch and the mechanism were kept by the family until last year when they were auctioned under one lot with other mementoes.