Schumacher watch sale fails to run like clockwork
THE sale of eight luxury watches belonging to Formula One legend Michael Schumacher was yesterday delayed after hackers targeted auction house Christie’s.
The cyber attack, launched last Thursday, also came on the eve of Christie’s £675million art sale, its most important of the year, in New York on Friday.
As a security measure, the auction house took its website down and last night it remained offline.The rare watches sale has been rearranged for today.
Christie’s chief executive Guillaume Cerutti yesterday said: “We’re managing this incident according to our well-established protocols and practices, with the support of additional experts. This included among other things the proactive protection of our main website by taking it offline.”
The watches sale, organised by Schumacher’s family, features a piece that was given to him by former Ferrari chief executive Jean Todt as a Christmas present in 2004.
The custom-made timepiece features 18-carat white gold, a red watch face and image of a Ferrari logo. It is set to fetch £1.75million. A Royal Oak Chronograph, left, is also being sold. Seven-time champion driver Schumacher suffered a near-fatal brain injury while skiing in 2013, and is now cared for privately.