Titanic survivor's life jacket sells for over $900K at auction, far exceeding price expectations

The flotation device - believed to be one of only a handful of Titanic life jackets still in existence - was used by first-class passenger Laura Mabel Francatelli during the ship's 1912 sinking and was the only one of its kind ever offered at auction.

It sold for 670,000 pounds, or roughly $906,000, including fees, at Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers in Devizes, England, to an unidentified telephone bidder.

The final price far surpassed its estimated range of about $339,000 to $475,000.

"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.

She and seven other survivors from the same lifeboat later signed the item.

She later recalled being helped into a life preserver and directed to the deck as lifeboats were lowered. Lifeboat No. 1, which had a capacity of 40, became controversial for failing to return to pick up additional survivors from the freezing Atlantic waters.

The cream-colored life jacket, made of canvas with cork-filled sections, has been displayed at museums in the United States and Europe.

Saturday's auction took place 114 years after the Carpathia arrived in New York with Titanic survivors on April 18, 1912.

Fox News Digital's Kelly McGreal and The Associated Press contributed to this report.