Michael Schumacher's Watches Are Heading to Auction. Here's What You Need to Know

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Little has been heard of Michael Schumacher since the near-fatal skiing accident that took him out of the public eye in December 2013.

His family, led by his wife Corinna, has maintained a fierce wall of privacy, meaning that speculation about the condition of the seven-time Formula One champion – once described as ‘the most complete Formula One driver ever’ – has remained just that. Tributes marking the grim 10th anniversary of his last sighting were paid on 29 December.

So, the announcement last month that Schumacher’s family were consigning a selection of his personal watches to Christie’s flagship sale in Geneva in May, was met with surprise.

Christie’s revealed two watches from the sale. A unique F.P Journe Vagabondage 1 model, circa 2004, featuring a platinum case and a personalised dial in Ferrari red – with the brand’s prancing horse logo at 9 o’clock and a reproduction of Schumacher’s race helmet at 3 o’clock. Around the dial are seven FIA globes, each representing one of German legend’s Word Championship victories. The watch was gifted to Schumacher by his mentor, Ferrari CEO and former rally co-driver Jean Todt, and is inscribed ‘Xmas 2004 – Jean Todt for my friend Schumacher’.

The second watch was a white gold Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph, personalised in a similar style to the F.P Journe, also gifted from Todt and engraved ‘J. Todt pour M. S Schumacher, Noel 2003’.

Then last week Christie’s announced the remaining watches in the sale, bringing the total to eight, along with their estimates.

The consignment is completed by a 1971 ‘Paul Newman’ dial Cosmograph Daytona, still the world’s most sought-after Rolex, the hype around it having never subsided since Paul Newman’s own personal ‘Paul Newman’ Daytona became the most expensive wristwatch ever sold, when it went under the hammer at Phillips Auction House in New York in 2017 for $17.8m.

This one has an estimate of CHF200,000-40000 (£176,000-£353,000).

The remaining five watches in the sale go together. Schumacher’s complete F.P Journe Ruthenium Collection Set. The Ruthenium timepieces from the revered independent watchmaker were produced between 2001 and 2003 in a run of 99. Each of the five in the auction has the same matching serial number – 92/99. Not only do these watches seldom come up for sale but it is almost unheard of for a matching set to be preserved intact, in the possession of the original owner. The watches are being sold as individual lots.

One of the five – known as ‘Octa Jour/Nuit’ – is especially noteworthy. This one was never produced on its own – and was available only as part of a complete set of the Ruthenium Collection. The ‘Octa Jour/ Nuit’ has an estimate of CHF150,00-250,000 [£132,083-£220,139].

Another, the Tourbillon Souverain, which took both the Auguille d’Or prize at Le Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) awards in 2004 and won the Watch of the Year grand prize in Japan the same year, is expected to fetch CHF300,000-500,000 [£264,167-£440, 278].

Of the previously announced models, the Royal Oak is estimated to fetch CHF150,000-250,000 [£132,000-£220,222]. While the F.J Journe Vagabondage has a highest ticket price that should see it sell in the millions – CHF1,000,000-2,300,000 [£880,000-£2,026,044].

In total, the sale should make at least £3.5m.

The event has been pegged to the fact that 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of Schumacher’s first Formula One Drivers Championship win in 1994.

The auction is being overseen by Rémi Guillemin, Christie’s head of watches Europe and Americas. It had been reported that the auction house had been in pursuit of the consignment for a couple of years, but he says that’s not quite right.

“It’s not really that we were chasing,” Guillemin tells me. “It’s more that we entered a conversation with the family. They contacted me and it was just an ongoing discussion, really. Michael Schumacher is known to have been very sensitive to the world of watchmaking for a long time. And I think, for them [the family], it was understanding the collection [as we helped explain it to them] and to decide which of the watches they would potentially desire to sell, or not.”

Nowadays we’re used to seeing high-profile sportspeople with insanely rare and outré watches, often bought under the guidance of experts – or at least loaned for events via stylists. Schumacher was before all of that.

“You’re correct,” Guillemin says. “Very early on he was [personally] associated with many different brands, with Audemars Piguet – even with watch models that bore his own name. And then you had Omega, as well.”

(Schumacher was a long-time ambassador for Omega, before jumping ship to Audemars Piguet, who produced a trio of Royal Oak Offshore models dedicated to him. He had also been developing a watch that would enable consecutive timing of individual laps – a world first. The Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher eventually saw the light of day in 2015 having been finished, with his family’s blessing, after the accident.)

How would Guillemin describe Schumacher’s taste?

“A lot of diversity. He liked Journe a lot. He was a patriot of the ICM Foundation in Paris [The Institut de Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, an international brain and spinal cord research centre] and so was [F.P Journe founder] François-Paul Journe. So maybe it was there that the got the opportunity to discuss wristwatches.”

These eight watches were just a part of Schumacher’s collection. Does Guillemin know how big it is?

“We can’t discuss the property of Michael Schumacher," he says. "It’s not for us to say. Only that these watches were selected for us, by the family. They chose the watches for this sale.

“The reason these pieces were selected is because these are watches that are quite technical or speak to very highly knowledgeable collectors. They are not commercial watches. The idea was to offer these pieces as something collectors would be able to appreciate more for their true value. This is why they were chosen over others.”

F.P. Journe, I suggest, is not a household name in the way that Rolex, or even Audemars Piguet, is.

“Yes, you're right. In the end, he is one of the greatest independent watchmakers today. He creates [just] 1,000 watches per year, around that number. He deserves to be known.”

The sale would be big for any auction house. But Guillemin says it is particularly personal.

“For me, offering the watches of Michael Schumacher is not just like offering the watches of any celebrity. He was an athlete who was at his peak during my generation. I was able to see races with my father. Every Sunday there was a Grand Prix in front of the TV, and I was really able to see the impact of the world of Formula One. Through his leadership with Ferrari, his rigorous driving, he was kind of something else, in his sport.

“So, you know, to me, that is really something that resonates today. A lot.”

Rare Watches Including the Property of Michael Schumacher takes place at Christie’s, Geneva at 2pm CEST on 13 May. There is more information here.

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