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 Datejust with serial number 3359499 was bought by my mother Maj-Britt Peterson through my brother Ronnie Peterson. Ronnie had ordered it through his colleague, the Rolex ambassador, Sir Jackie Stewart. I inherited the watch in the year 2000 after my mother had passed away.”
/Tommy Peterson