8 watches owned by Formula One great Michael Schumacher are going up for auction

Eight luxury watches belonging to Formula One great Michael Schumacher are going up for sale at Christie's on Tuesday.

The sale, organized by Schu‐ macher's family, features a watch that was given to the Ger‐ man racing superstar by former Ferrari CEO and former motor‐ sports governing body FIA Pres‐ ident Jean Todt as a Christmas present in 2004, when Schu‐ macher was the dominant force in F1.

The custom‐made timepiece features 18‐carat white gold, a red watch face and images of a Ferrari logo, Schumacher's rac‐ ing helmet and the number 7 to honor his seven World Champi‐ onship victories. The presale es‐ timate suggested it could bring as much as 2 million Swiss francs (about $2.2 million), Christie's said.

Other Schumacher watches in‐ clude five in a single box set that will be auctioned off individually. The sale has been timed for the 30th anniversary of his first For‐ mula One Drivers Championship win in 1994.

"We were approached by the family to put these pieces up for for auction, and the reason is un‐ known to us," said Eli Fayon, a Christie's watches specialist.

The watches, which were taken to New York and Taipei for showings before the sale, are part of a larger auction of luxury timepieces to go under the ham‐ mer on Tuesday at Christie's in Geneva.

Also on Tuesday, Sotheby's was set to hold a jewelry auction fea‐ turing a 100‐carat yellow dia‐ mond with a presale estimate of up to 6.5 million francs ($7.2 mil‐ lion).

Schumacher, who retired from F1 in 2012, shares the record for most F1 titles with British driver Lewis Hamilton.

In December the following year, Schumacher fell while ski‐ ing in the French Alpine resort of Meribel and suffered a near‐fatal brain injury. His head hit a rock which split open his helmet. Doc‐ tors removed blood clots but others were left untouched be‐ cause they were too deeply em‐ bedded in his brain.

Since being transferred from hospital in September 2014, Schumacher continues to be cared for privately at a family home in Switzerland.