A little jackpot. This Tuesday, eight watches belonging to Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher, including two unique pieces in reference to his world champion titles, were sold for 4 million Swiss francs (4.1 million euros) . The sale took place in Geneva and was organized by the auction company Christie’s.
The German car racer, victim of a serious skiing accident in December 2013, was passionate about watches and built up a large collection over the years. Christie’s indicated that two of the watches sold on Tuesday had been given to it by Jean Todt for Christmas, when he was his team principal at Ferrari.
Watches in homage to his titles
One of these pieces, created by the FP Journe house, displays a unique dial stamped with the Ferrari crest and 7 “v”s symbolizing Michael Schumacher’s seven F1 world championship titles as well as his helmet. Its value was estimated between 1 and 2 million Swiss francs. It was finally sold for 1,497,000 Swiss francs (1,532,928 euros).
A series of five watches from the FP Journe Ruthenium collection were offered for sale separately at auction, but were taken “by the same buyer, including the box for a total of more than 1.7 million Swiss francs (1.7 million euros),” specifies the auction house.
This collection, offered for sale 30 years after Michael Schumacher’s first Formula 1 world championship title in 1994, is not, however, the most expensive lot sold. An exceptional piece from Patek Philippe has achieved great success.
A vintage Patek Philippe from 1948 brought in 2,465,000 Swiss francs (2,524,160 euros) “the highest price for a wristwatch sold this spring in Geneva,” says Christie’s. The total sales were valued at 22,821,050 Swiss francs, specifies the auction house.
“These results demonstrate the passion of international collectors for exceptional watches,” commented Rémi Guillemin, head of watches at Christie’s. “We saw strong global participation, with a focus on America,” he added.
