A fender from Titanic lifeboat 2, which sold at the April 2026 sale for just under £400,000, was matched to a 1912 photograph taken as the lifeboat was hauled on board the rescue ship, The Carpathia.
“There are certain things that jump out at you; the look, the feel, the smell, the aesthetics,” said Aldridge.
“These are things that people can’t fake, but most importantly, it’s the provenance. I can tell you where this item has been, anywhere between 1912 and present day.
“So that timeline is what guarantees its authenticity.”
He added that while fake items exist, they rarely make it to his auction house.
“People fake menus, letters, watches, there’s all manner of things they try to fake, but generally speaking they don’t bring those to us because they know we’ll spot them a mile away,” he added.
For Aldridge, the job is about more than record-breaking sales.
“I’m lucky enough to handle these pieces of history and it’s a huge honour,” he said.
