They were once on Michael Schumacher’s wrist, now they have new owners: eight of the Formula 1 legend’s watches were auctioned in Geneva. A casket attracts particular interest from bidders.
Michael Schumacher’s family earned more than three million euros from the auction of eight watches from the former racing driver’s collection. The most valuable timepiece was a watch from the FP Journe factory, probably from 2004, which was made especially for Schumacher. It changed hands on Tuesday evening at the Christie’s auction house in Geneva for 1.2 million francs (a good 1.2 million euros).
The watch has symbols of the seven world championship titles on a red dial and a dedication from the former Ferrari team boss, who gave it to the athlete as a Christmas present. A Schumacher Rolex sold for 250,000 francs and an Audemars Piguet watch for 330,000 francs. Five other FPJourne watches brought a total of almost 1.4 million francs. The buyers have to dig a little deeper into their pockets, because the auction house’s commission of around 26 percent is added to the prices.
Several watches were auctioned at the lower end of the estimated price. The Ferrari red watch was valued at around one to two million francs – without a celebrity markup, as the auction house assured. The cheapest part of Michael Schumacher’s possession made the biggest jump: the Christie’s expert estimated a box for the five FPJourne watches at 5,000 francs. It went to a new owner for three times as much. The auction house maintained secrecy about the buyers. Information about the bidders is subject to the utmost discretion and will only be revealed with the express permission of the new owners.
Schumacher lives with his family not far from Geneva on Lake Geneva. He no longer appeared in public after a serious skiing accident in 2013. The family has not provided any information about how he is doing. Schumacher was a passionate watch collector.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
