A wristwatch that survived the atomic bombing in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, has successfully fetched a price of $31,113 at an auction in the United States.
The watch that “survived” the atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
According to Kyodo News, citing information from RR Auction, an auction house based in Boston, the wristwatch was discovered in the rubble following the atomic explosion in the western Japanese city. It was found “frozen” at precisely 8:15 AM—the moment the atomic bomb was dropped by the American aircraft Enola Gay on Hiroshima, resulting in approximately 140,000 fatalities by the end of that year.
The rare watch later belonged to a British soldier who was dispatched to Hiroshima to provide emergency supplies and assess reconstruction needs.
The watch is described as “a landmark of the dawn of the nuclear age, but it could also symbolize the dusk of human civilization.”—the auction announcement stated.
The identity of the buyer of the watch at the auction has not been disclosed by RR Auction.
The atomic bomb that fell on Hiroshima was one of two similar bombs dropped by the U.S. on Japan. On August 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped the second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki.
According to statistics from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of survivors from the two atomic bombings as of the end of 2023 is 113,649, a decrease of 5,286 from the previous year, with an average life expectancy of 85 years.
Starting this year, the Hiroshima city government will launch a program called “Family Inheritors” to enable survivors to pass on knowledge related to the atomic bombing disaster to future generations.
