Michael Schumacher’s rare watches may fetch millions at auction
Eight of the F1 star's timepieces, from Rolex to Audemars Piguet and F.P. Journe, will be auctioned by Christies in May
Eight watches from the collection of Michael Schumacher highlighting milestones in the career of the seven-time Formula One champion will be auctioned by Christie’s in Geneva and may fetch millions.
The timepieces include a unique F.P. Journe Vagabondage 1 Model from 2004 that commemorates each of Schumacher’s F1 championship wins. It was given to the German-born driver by his Scuderia Ferrari team principal, Jean Todt.
The watch is “arguably the most important Vagabondage F.P. Journe ever made,” Remi Guillemin, Christie’s head of watches in Europe and the US, said in an interview.
The platinum-cased, custom red-dialled watch with a gold movement has a wandering hours display showing the Ferrari logo as well as Schumacher’s distinctive helmet. The one-of-a-kind timepiece from the Geneva watchmaker could fetch more than one million Swiss francs (€1.1 million) at auction, Guillemin said.
Other Schumacher watches to be sold in Geneva on May 13 include an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak chronograph in white gold with a white dial showing the emblem of Schumacher’s Ferrari team on a subdial, as well as six stars on another to mark the six F1 championships Schumacher had won between 1994 and 2003.
The watch was also given to Schumacher by Todt and has an auction estimate of between 150,000 francs and 250,000 francs, according to Christie’s.
The sale will also include Schumacher’s own ‘Paul Newman’ Rolex Daytona. The black dial chronograph, reference 6262 with exotic subdials, has a pre-auction estimate of 200,000 francs to 400,000 francs.
Schumacher retired from racing in 2012 and suffered a severe brain injury skiing in France the following year. The Schumacher family approached Christie’s more than a year ago to determine the value of some of the watches in the former driver’s collection, according to Guillemin.
During his career, Schumacher was “very sensitive to the world of watches” and has an extensive collection, Guillemin said.
The driver was an advertising partner for Swatch Group AG’s Omega brand when he won his third F1 title and first with Ferrari in 2000. At the time, Omega issued a version of its Speedmaster Racing chronograph with Schumacher’s signature on the caseback.
