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 ocean liner which sank in 1912.
Geneva watchmaker Romain Jerome billed its "Titanic-DNA" collection as among the most exclusive pieces showcased this week at the watch and jewellery industry's largest annual trade fair in Basle.
Romain Jerome said it purchased a piece of the hull weighing about 1.5kg that was retrieved in 1991, but declined to identify the seller. The metal has been certified as authentic by the Titanic's builders, Belfast-based Harland and Wolff.
To make the watches, which were offered for sale for the first time for between $7,800 and $173,100 (€6,000 and €128,500), 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 timepieces have black dial faces made of lacquer paint that includes coal recovered from the debris field of the wreck site.
Romain Jerome hopes the limited edition watches will attract both collectors and luxury goods buyers. Chief executive Yvan Arpa said: "So many rich people buy incredibly complicated watches without understanding how they work, because they want a story to tell. To them we offer a story."
The North Atlantic site of the wreck of the Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, has been protected for more than a decade, but many relics were taken in early diving expeditions.
Mr Arpa said the combination of new and old materials infused the watches with a sense of renewal, instead of representing a reminder of the 1,500 or so passengers who drowned when the liner met her end off the coast of Newfoundland.
The company will make 2,012 watches to coincide with the centenary anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.