Christie’s Dubai sells $26m worth of art and watches in 2016

Auction house Christie’s said that total sales from its art and watches auctions in Dubai this year amounted to Dhs97,418,799 (over $26m).

The first sale this year was held between March 15-17 while the second sale took place from October 18-19.

The auctions saw global participation with buyers coming Sweden and the US, among other countries.

The watches auction specifically saw its strongest result since 2013, when Christie’s started to hold stand-alone watch auctions, it said in a statement.

The latest watches auction realised a total of over Dhs14,436,468 ($3.9m), increasing the result from the March 2016 auction by 46 per cent. Sell-through results stood at 85 per cent.

Dubai was the only Christie’s salesroom to host the entire 40 Patek Philippe watches being part of the NAUTILUS 40 auction sections, which saw 100 per cent sales.

“We saw dynamic and enthusiastic bidding throughout the entire auction, which offered the highest percentage of vintage watches since Christie’s held stand-alone watch auctions in the region,” said Remy Julia, watch specialist at Christie’s Dubai.

“The new auction trend for the region is “vintage is king” – or queen, since we see more and more lady collectors participating in the auctions.”

Meanwhile sales from the modern art auction in October reached Dhs23,769,774 (over $6.4m), down by around 46 per cent when compared to $11.98m achieved in the March sale.

Michael Jeha, managing director and deputy chairman of Christie’s Dubai said: “We have brought Christie’s international reputation to the region established a thriving, sustainable international art market in the Middle East.

“This autumn auction season has cemented Dubai as an essential part of the international auction circuit. The strategy and strength behind the curated auctions, alongside the quality of the 259 pieces offered, resonated with an even wider international audience.”

New artist records were set for Dia Al-Azzawi (Iraqi); Ismail Al-Sheikhly (Iraqi); Shafic Abboud (Lebanese); Zoulikha Bouabdellah (Algerian); Athier (Iraqi); Mohammed Kazem (Emirati); Muhanna Durra (Jordanian) and Abdul Qader Al-Rais (Emirati).