Christie’s auction of Michael Schumacher watch postponed due to cyber attack

Christie’s auction of rare watches did not run like clockwork on Monday.

British auction house forced to postpone Geneva sale due to cyber attack Bloomberg reported on Monday. According to a Christie’s spokesman, the auction, which notably includes timepieces by seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, has been moved to Tuesday.

Christie’s website went offline Thursday, due to what House called a “technology security issue.” The entire site was still down on Monday, although Christie’s has managed to add links. Catalogue Of the seven upcoming auctions. It is not known who crashed the computer system or for what reason, but the home has been hacked before. (Last August, a German cyber security company discovered a data breach at Christie’s.)

Christie’s controversial “just a watch” auction went ahead on Friday, as did art sales in New York on Saturday. However, technical issues prevented online bidders from participating in the events. (So ​​far, sales of the watch alone have raised about $31.2 million for charity.) Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerotti said eight auctions will be scheduled this week, with bidding in person and by phone. will go “We look forward to welcoming you to our exhibitions and registering you to participate in these auctions,” Cerruti wrote in an emailed statement.

Now taking place on May 14 at the Four Seasons in Geneva, the rare watch auction includes a section dedicated to Schumacher’s luxury timepieces. The eight watches on offer highlight key moments from the retired German driver’s three-decade racing career.

According to Christie’s, Audemars Piguet’s traversing of the Royal Oak block is “particularly noteworthy”. Given to Schumacher by French racing executive Jean Todt, the custom chronograph (estimate: $166,000–$276,000) is full of racing references. The seconds sub-dial features Ferrari’s famous prancing horse emblem, the 12-hour register displays Schumacher’s red racing helmet, and the 30-minute counter is adorned with the numerals “1” and six stars that date back to 1994 and Reflects Shoumi’s victories between 2003 and 2013. A unique FP Journe Vagabondage 1 model ($1.1 million–$2.2 million) featuring a bespoke dial with multiple nodes for Ferrari.

The racing legend’s wrist candy should collectively hammer for millions — if nothing else goes wrong, that is.