"Exquisite. They're perfect. It's like jewelry you'd see in a store."
That was Michael Casalino's reaction after seeing "Jewels of Titanic." The Palm Coast man was one of the first to visit the new, traveling exhibit at I-Drive's Titanic:The Experience.
Casalino told me he was actually a shipwreck diver for 38 years.
"What's always amazed me is how gold comes out of the ocean," he said. "Gold comes out almost as if it was brand new."
For the first time ever, 15 of the most prestigious artifacts recovered from the wreck site of Titanic are now on display in the same room. Only Orlando, Las Vegas, and Atlanta are part of the tour.
Enclosed in glass cases are sparkling rings, necklaces, button covers, bracelets, and pins that were 2.5 miles underwater for 75 years. Divers from the only company allowed by law to recover objects of Titanic -- RMS Titanic, Inc. -- made the big discovery in 1987.
"We found this Gladstone bag," said Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition Creative Director Mark Lach. "[It] kind of looks like a doctor's bag. Turns out to be from the purser's office."
Lach explained what he thinks happened when the ship started sinking.
"As the order was given to abandon ship, the pursers probably took everything, put them inside bags, maybe went to the boat deck to try to distribute them there before people got on life boats. But this particular bag, I'm sure, as the chaos set in -- with so many human beings, unfortunately-- also ended up on the ocean floor."
The bag was leather. The tanning process used on it contained a chemical that repelled microorganisms at the bottom of the ocean, protecting the jewelry.
So who's was it?
Lach says he can't confirm who owned the jewels. But he can speculate. For instance, a gold locket had stylized script letters of the monogram "VC."
"Virginia Clark was a first class passenger aboard the Titanic, so it could've been hers," Lach said.
Also part of the exhibit is what he's sure is a one-of -a-kind necklace.
"It's very unique. It's just raw gold nuggets. Margaret Brown [AKA "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"] was aboard the Titanic. This necklace might have belonged to Molly Brown because it was said recently her husband had purchased a gold mine in Colorado."
Just so you know, that famous "Heart of the Ocean" necklace featured in James Cameron's “Titanic” was never aboard the ship. It was fictional.
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition put together these quick facts and trivia you might find pretty cool:
- The White Star Line strongly advised passengers to keep jewelry, large quantities of cash, and other valuables in the ship's secure safes located at the purser's office.
- First Class passengers were directed to the chief purser's suite of offices conveniently located just off the forward Grand Staircase on the starboard side of the ship.
- The cost of a first class ticket on Titanic to New York was $2,500, about $57,200 today.
- The most expensive rooms were more than $103,000 in today's currency.
- While it is unclear what happened that night, the purser's gladstone bag ended up at the bottom of the ocean when Titanic sank.
- On the first expedition to the wreck site of Titanic in 1987, RMS Titanic recovered the purser's leather gladstone bag which contained jewelry, bank notes, gold sovereigns, and gold watches.
- There was a necklace owned by first-class passenger Elenor Widener that was insured as the most expensive necklace in the world. The diamond and pearl necklace was bought by her husband, George Widener, in 1909 as a Christmas gift for his wife for $750,000, which in today's currency would be worth approx. $16,400,000.
Below is the official press release describing the traveling exhibit:
Fifteen of the most prestigious artifacts recovered from the wreck site of Titanic have been gathered into one of the most dazzling collections ever assembled. As part of a three-city tour, Jewels of Titanic, presented by Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition and Titanic The Experience, features diamonds, sapphires, pearls and gold jewelry that once belonged to some of Titanic's wealthiest passengers. Debuting in Atlanta with future engagements in Orlando and Las Vegas, Jewels of Titanic shares the story of the jewelry's discovery, underwater recovery, mysterious lineage and the influence these artifacts have in today's pop culture.
For more than 100 years, the mystique of R.M.S. Titanic's sailing and subsequent sinking has captured the world's imagination. Hailed as the most luxurious ocean liner the world had ever seen, Titanic's manifest for the doomed maiden voyage had some of wealthiest and most well-known individuals of the day. As the Ship sank beneath the icy waters of the North Atlantic, she claimed more than 1,500 lives and took all the treasures she carried on board to a watery grave 2.5 miles beneath the ocean surface.
These priceless items were once thought to be lost forever. However, 75 years after the sinking, Premier Exhibitions, Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiary, RMS Titanic, Inc., the salvor-in-possession of the wreck site and producers of the remarkable Titanic exhibitions, embarked on the first recovery operation to Titanic. Among the twisted steel, murky water and unidentifiable objects was an unmarked leather Gladstone bag whose contents became some of the most remarkable artifacts ever recovered – the Jewels of Titanic.
WHAT: Jewels of Titanic will embark on a three-city tour visiting Atlanta, Orlando and Las Vegas between November 2012 and May 2013.
WHEN/WHERE: In Orlando @ Titanic: The Experience, 7324 International Drive through March 12.