Closed | Important watches – Saturday 12 November 2016

Ronnie Peterson, born 14 February 1944 in Örebro, was the most successful Formula 1 driver in Swedish history. He made his debut in kart racing when he was 18 years old and had great success from early on. In 1966 he started competing in Formula 3; he made his first race in the car SWEBE, built by his father Bengt together with Sven Andersson. Peterson kept on being successful, among other things he became Swedish champion twice before he started competing in Formula 1 in 1970. It didn’t take long until he was one of the foremost drivers, he won ten out of the 123 Grand Prix he drove and came second in the Formula 1 World Championship in 1971 and posthumously in 1978.
On 10 September, just after the start at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy’s Grand Prix 1978, Peterson was seriously injured in an accident. He died the day after, only 34 years old, due to complications during surgery. Ronnie Peterson was posthumously awarded “Greatest motor sport performance through the ages” in 2011.

”This Rolex Day-Date with serial number 5349851 was my brother Ronnie Peterson’s private watch from spring/summer 1978. I’m not completely sure if it was a gift or if he bought it for himself, but he probably got hold of it through his colleague Sir Jackie Stewart who was a Rolex ambassador. The watch is still in great condition since Ronnie tragically died just a few months later. My father Bengt Peterson inherited the watch and it was later given to me after his death in 1999.” /Tommy Peterson