Michael Schumacher-owned watches fetch millions at auction

A collection of watches owned by seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher recently went under the hammer.

Schumacher enjoyed one of the most decorated F1 careers, winning five of his titles with Ferrari after claiming his first two with Benetton.

The German opted to  retire in 2012 but has been shielded from public life by his family following a serious skiing accident in 2013.

Very few details of his condition have been made public in the 10 years since the incident.

Aside from his rampant on-track success during his 20-year F1 career, Schumacher was also an avid collector of exclusive watches. 

This week at auction house Christie's in Geneva, eight of his special timepieces went under the hammer. 

In doing so, his family raised more than €3 million. The most valuable watch belonged to watchmaker F.P. Journe. 

The watch in question has symbols of Schumacher's seven world titles on a red dial and a message from former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt. The watch was specially made for Schumacher and was a Christmas gift from Todt to his former driver.

At auction, it changed hands for the sum of roughly €1.2 million. 

A Rolex belonging to Schumacher sold for €278,000  and a watch by Audemars Piguet for €367,000 euros. 

Five other watches from F.P. Journe brought in a total of more than €1.5 million.