Rare Watches Owned By Michael Schumacher Put Up For Sale

Christie’s will present eight rare watches from the collection of Formula 1 racing legend Michael Schumacher at auction on 13 May.

This historic collection will highlight Christie’s live auction of Rare Watches at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva.

2024 marks the 30th anniversary of Schumacher’s first Formula 1 Drivers Championship win in 1994. In celebration of this, Christie’s auction will offer fans and collectors worldwide the opportunity to experience Michael Schumacher’s personal style and taste through the timepieces he wore and collected.

Two of the watches in the sale, first revealed in March, were custom-made for the F1 driver and given to him as Christmas presents in 2003 and 2004 by his Ferrari team principle Jean Todt.

Rémi Guillemin, Christie’s head of watches for Europe and US, commented: “What an exciting moment it is for all of us at Christie’s to share these masterpieces of horology with passionate collectors around the globe.

“We are thrilled to present these iconic and unique timepieces belonging to one of the most celebrated Formula 1 legends of all time, and we invite collectors and fans to personally view and experience these watches in Taiwan and New York, ahead of our final preview and auction of the collection on May 13th in Geneva.

“It is my immense pleasure to announce the additional six watches from the Michael Schumacher collection.”

Michael Schumacher’s Full F.P. Journe Ruthenium Collection set 

CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2024

Michael Schumacher’s collection features a rare set of F.P. Journe Ruthenium timepieces, which historically are almost never available on the market together with matching serial numbers. 

It is also almost unheard of for a matching numbered full set to be preserved intact in the possession of the original owner.

To allow wristwatch collectors and motor racing enthusiasts alike the opportunity to own a timepiece from the collection, each watch, numbered 92/99 will be offered by Christie’s as a separate lot. 

The Ruthenium Collection comprises five watches, which were all produced during the final phase of the brass movement era between 2001 and 2003 in a limited edition of 99 pieces each.  

The Octa Jour et Nuit was never produced on its own, independently from the Ruthenium collection. The name ‘Octa’ was given as a prefix to all F.P. Journe’s automatic watches because in Latin it means ‘eight’ and the figure ‘8’ on its side signifies infinity (estimate CHF150,000-250,000 | $180,000-280,000).   The Tourbillon Souverain is arguably Journe’s most famous wristwatch model. Launched in 1999, it was the first ever tourbillon with a remontoire d’egalité. It received the ‘Aiguille d’Or’ prize at the Geneva ‘Grand Prix d’Horlogerie’ in 2004 and won the ‘Watch of the Year’ grand prize in Japan in the same year (estimate: CHF300,000-500,000 | $350,000-570,000).  The Octa Chronographe is one of the rarest and most intriguing of F.P. Journe’s early series wristwatches with only 313 examples ever made across all production. It uses the same caliber 1300 as other Octa models but is fitted with an integrated stopwatch mechanism on the dial plate (estimate: CHF150,000-250,000 | $180,000-280,000).   The Octa Calendrier was F.P. Journe’s first annual calendar wristwatch and the third complication to be integrated into the Octaautomatic calibre series whilst maintaining the same dimensions of the movement, a significant horological achievement (estimate CHF150,000-250,000 | $180,000-280,000).   The Chronomètre à Résonance most clearly showcases the genius of F.P. Journe. It is the only wristwatch in the world with a movement based on ‘resonance,’ a natural physical phenomenon. F.P. Journe’s resonance watches notably feature two balances that are naturally synchronized and oscillate in ‘resonance’ with each other. The negative effects of wrist and body movements are hence considerably reduced. (estimate: CHF300,000-500,000 | $350,000-570,000). 

The live Christie’s auction will take place on 13 May at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva, with Michael Schumacher’s watches up for auction.