Titanic Survivor Wedding Ring

Selma Asplund wedding ring, worn on the Titanic during her rescue and until her death in 1965.

Asplund was a Swedish immigrant, travelling with her husband Carl and their four children in third class.

The Asplund family’s cabin was in one of the aft compartments of the ship. Carl Asplund was irritated by the partying in the Third Class General room, where alcohol was served. He said to Selma, “it is a terrible life that is led here on board. Since we left England they have done nothing but drink and dance and play cards… I think it will probably be the last time we travel across the Atlantic”

The night of the 14th April was confusing for the family. Selma woke up at the violent shaking from the impact. She woke her husband who quickly dressed and ran up on deck to find out what was going on. He soon returned and they decided to wake the children.

Selma noticed it was getting crowded in the corridor and she could hear worried voices. She later said “an hour before the titanic sank, its crew yanked the life belts off the passengers, saying, “The re is no danger here, the boat will leave again in a few minutes”. They decided to wait up on deck.

On the deck the family waited together, as the seriousness of the situation became increasingly clear. Selma thought that they would die together, but suddenly their young daughter Lillian was snatched from her and thrown into a lifeboat.

Then Lillian’s twin brother Felix was also thrown into a boat. Carl pushed Selma towards the boat, saying that the children couldn’t be left alone.

The children were crying, and before she could protest, a helmsman took her by the arm and pulled her onto the boat. This was Lifeboat 15, the most crowded of all the boats with 66 people on it, and was one of the last boats to leave.

Looking up at the ship, she saw Carl and their remaining sons set off to try to find a place in another boat. She would never see them alive again

Lifeboat 15 was one of the two lifeboats that returned to the sinking site to look for survivors. She was picked up by the RMS Carpathia at four o clock that morning.

Selma refused to speak of the disaster in later years, and was taken care of in old age by Lillian and Felix. She died on 15th April 1964, the 52nd anniversary of the sinking.
Lillian kept this ring along with her father’s wedding ring and watch (both recovered from his body), his watch stopped forever at 2.19 when he entered the water.

Provenance: Sold in Aldridge and Sons Titanic auction in 2008, and again by the same auction house in 2023.