How auction houses Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips in Hong Kong are expanding, and what it means for buyers

Auction firms in Hong Kong have announced bold moves to expensive in-house facilities, where they will hold year-round sales as in London and New York

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Auction houses in Hong Kong Christie’s and Sotheby’s have announced bold moves to new in-house facilities where they’ll host year-round sales like in London and New York. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 11:15am, 18 Mar 2023Updated: 9:43am, 20 Mar 2023

There is a good reason to visit Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction previews at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this year, even if you are not planning to buy anything. These are going to be among the last of their kind.

Starting in 2024, the world’s two largest auction houses are moving all their activities to new, in-house facilities where they will run year-round sales, just as they do in their New York and London headquarters.

There will likely still be large-scale, multi-category sales that are highlights during the year, but the companies will no longer offer everything under one roof in the tightly packed, week-long spring and autumn sales that have come to symbolise the intensity and scale of the Hong Kong auctions market.

Some of the most expensive collectibles in the world have been shown cheek by jowl in these halls: diamonds of more than 100 carats, the most coveted Hermès bags, the Qianlong Emperor’s dragon thrones, a Picasso here, a Monet there, large splash-ink landscapes by Zhang Daqian, countless Patek Philippe watches and the rarest bottles of wine and whisky.

Mist at Dawn (1968), by Chinese painter Zhang Daqian, sold for HK$214.6 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong in 2021. Photo: Dickson Lee

A carved dragon throne of Qianlong Emperor broke auction records when it was sold by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong in 2009. Photo: Sam Tsang

These are cornucopia that are symbols either of abundance or the degenerate excesses of the 0.001 per cent.

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