You might think that the watch auction industry has hit a bottleneck in the current coronavirus crisis, with auction rooms all over the world where no one asks. Not so, Sotheby’s worldwide head of watches Sam Hines told WatchPro today. There are some bargains to be had with caution stalking the market, but there are also strong results from recent online auctions in New York and Geneva.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong office, where the pandemic has been brought under control and the auctioneer’s office has re-opened, released a new series of weekly online auctions today with a sale focusing on fake Rolex and Audemars Piguet watches.
The weekly online auction will not replace the current auction calendar, but it will provide a more frequent and simpler way for sellers and buyers to trade watches.
“Each weekly sale will have a smaller and more curated list of replica watches. On larger scales, it might take months to pull together the lots, but with these auctions, it can be done in just a couple of weeks. This means people can be more confident about price fluctuations since watches get to market more quickly,” explains Mr. Hines.
So far there has been little evidence that prices are softening. A Sotheby’s sale in New York running from March 4 to 11 saw 94% of watches selling for above their reserve prices and nearly half sold above their high estimates.
This week’s sale has 19 watches on the block: 14 Rolex pieces and five Audemars Piguet. Eight of the watches have already reached their reserve prices in the first few hours of the online auction opening, says Mr. Hines.
Next week’s sale, which begins as the replica Rolex and Audemars Piguet auction ends on April 8, will be dedicated to Patek Philippe watches, and Mr. Hines has revealed there will be a large number of Nautilus and Aquanaut models up for grabs.
Two years ago Sotheby’s, which has 276 years of history, held its first online-only auction. Mr. Haines hopes the move will have a ripple effect across the industry. He explains that the watch auction is a gateway for people entering the auction world to have their first experience. These people could later become bidders for huge auctions of art and other assets.
