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Auctions

Auctions
Reporting on the latest auctions of luxury goods, including watches, handbags, high jewellery and fine art
After the post-pandemic surge, art sales declined globally in 2024. Photo: Sotheby’s
Art

The Great Wave sale highlights Hong Kong’s art market resilience

Despite overall cooling, Hong Kong’s art market shows resilience – the top end remains intact, and the lower price brackets stay steady.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong, East Asia’s thriving art hub – from Art Basel to West Kowloon

Art

Stunned Frenchman wins US$1 million Picasso with US$117 raffle ticket

Art

Sold-out auctions suggest Hong Kong’s art market is back. But is it?

‘White glove’ sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s March Hong Kong auctions are cause for optimism, but must be put into perspective.

Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild is on its way to being sold for HK$92.1 million at Christie’s 20th/21st Century art evening sale in Hong Kong on March 27, 2026. Photo: Christie’s
Art Basel

Hong Kong’s live art auctions are thriving thanks to Picasso and Nara

A shift in 2025 saw collectors driving demand for rare, high-quality pieces while millennials and Gen Z bidders helped broaden participation.

Style Edit

Style Edit: Sotheby’s Hong Kong presents a history of abstract art

From ancient artefacts to Joan Mitchell and Mark Rothko, “Beyond the Abstract” is the most sweeping survey of abstract art ever shown in Greater China.

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My Obsession

‘We didn’t play with toys, we played with jewels’: meet the man born for the rostrum

The newly appointed president of Christie’s Asia Pacific talks about his favourite part of life as a showman.

Christie’s auctioneer Rahul Kadakia and his billion-dollar gavel. Photo: Jocelyn Tam
United States

Triceratops skeleton ‘Trey’ to hit the auction block as dinosaur market soars

The 66-million-year-old fossil, for sale on musician Pharrell Williams’ auction platform Joopiter, is expected to fetch up to US$5.5 million.

Hong Kong society

‘H’ races to riches: car plate fetches HK$20 million at Hong Kong auction

Other high bids at Sunday’s Chinese New Year auction include plates ‘30’ at HK$4.55 million, ‘101’ at HK$1.01 million and ‘2288’ at HK$470,000.

United States

Unique Pokemon card smashes world record with US$16.5 million sale

Previously bought by US YouTuber Logan Paul for US$5.28 million in 2021, the card sold for three times that amount at an auction on Monday.

The Pokemon card that fetched a record US$16.5 million at an auction in the US on Monday. Photo: Kyodo
Art

Big 3 auction houses report uptick in 2025 sales, but Asia still lagging

Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips report combined projected total revenue of US$14.1 billion for 2025 as the US leads the way.

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s 1940 work El sueño (La cama) sells at Sotheby’s new home at the Breuer in New York for US$54.7 million including fees on November 20, 2025. Photo: Julian Cassady
Fame and celebrity

Amy Winehouse’s dad sues star’s friends for selling her clothes for US$970,000

Two women say the British singer had lent or given them dozens of items before she died.

Art

The ‘Mona Lisa’ of Faberge eggs sells for a record US$30.2 million

The Winter Egg, made of crystal and diamond, was crafted for Russia’s royal family before it was toppled by revolution.

Wealth: Alternative Investments

Vetting collectibles, such as whiskies and watches, is a serious business

The market is growing briskly, but vigilance is vital to ensure that assets are authenticated and carefully protected ahead of a sale.

Supported by
BNP Paribas Wealth Management
Fine art, like this triptych by Mark Bradford on display at Hong Kong’s Hauser & Wirth gallery, is just a more rarefied form of collectible. Photo: Handout
Architecture and design

Animal print interiors: expert tips on how to keep them classy

Long tied to glamour and excess, animal prints are back – here’s how to use them to add energy and character to modern homes.

The living area in Pauline Karpidas’ London home incorporates several flashes of animal print. Photo: Handout
Icons and Influencers

Legacy of Vogue Italia’s Franca Sozzani honoured at inaugural Franca Fund Gala

Co-hosted by Anna Wintour, the event included a fundraising auction and drew guests including Gisele Bündchen and Miuccia Prada.

Art

Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait breaks auction record for female artists

The sale at Sotheby’s in New York also topped Kahlo’s own auction record for a work by a Latin American artist.

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France

Christie’s suspends Paris sale of world’s ‘first calculator’ invented in 1642

Export ban halts the sale of inventor Blaise Pascal’s historic calculator, as scientists demand artefact receive ‘national treasure’ status.

La Pascaline, the first mechanical calculating machine is displayed at Christie’s auction house in Paris. Photo: AFP
Art

Solid gold toilet snapped up for US$12.1 million at New York auction

The fully functional 18-karat gold toilet was designed by provocative Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Jewellery

Hong Kong’s autumn high jewellery auctions: rare gems and record-breaking sales

The season climaxes this month at Christie’s, with strong demand at Sotheby’s for jewels by Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany & Co. and Bulgari.

American cinema

Wicked Witch’s hat from The Wizard of Oz to go up for auction

The wool hat will be sold alongside Dorothy’s ruby slippers and a signed Wizard of Oz book at a major memorabilia sale in Dallas next month.

Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1949 film The Wizard of Oz. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Crime

UK seizes US$15 million in dinosaur bones from Chinese money-laundering suspect

The Chinese businessman was previously wanted for involvement in Singapore’s biggest money-laundering case but has since struck a deal.

Dinosaur fossils are displayed at auction house Christie’s in London, Britain. Photo: Christie’s via Reuters
Profile

She once tried med school. Now she sells multimillion-dollar art every day

The auctioneer tells of her journey from med school to the art world, and explains how she stays on top of everything the day artworks go under the hammer.

Art

Editorial | Hong Kong art scene still going strong despite closures

There are reasons to be optimistic about Hong Kong’s art trading hub ambitions despite two galleries announcing closures.

Art

2 ‘mega galleries’ to close Hong Kong premises to find more suitable spaces

Pace Gallery and Perrotin have announced they will be closing their Hong Kong spaces, but say they plan to reopen in the city in the future.

An installation view of Cuban artist Alejandro Piñeiro Bello’s, Solo Quiero Soñar (I Just Want to Dream), the final exhibition at Pace Gallery Hong Kong before it closes. Photo: courtesy of Pace Gallery
Fashion

Gem-studded bags from Gucci and more promise sparkling nights out

At the Paris Haute Couture Week shows, luxury maisons gilded the lily by adding beautiful stones to statement accessories, bringing back the minaudière.

Mouawad’s 1001 Nights Diamond Purse. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong property

Hong Kong’s warehouses find support from demand to store metals and art

The city’s logistics sector receives a boost from LME’s inclusion and art storage demand, despite a cautious market and falling rents.

Art

Hong Kong’s latest art auctions see turnover lingering at 8-year low

Overall auction sales by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips reflected art market downturn since 2016, despite the sale of Asia’s most expensive Picasso.

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