When Sotheby’s revealed plans for Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week in August, the house’s first series of luxury marquee sales in the emirate, it came as no surprise. Both Sotheby’s and Christie’s have been increasingly pivoting to the luxury market, and the Gulf, to counter sticky art sales over the last couple of years—and milking it well. But Sotheby’s made a serious statement of intent on Thursday by announcing that $1 billion of fine art and luxury goods will be “unveiled” during the week, which runs from December 2 to 5.
Don’t be mistaken, though; “unveiling” and “selling” are two different things. And in a stark reflection of the art and luxury markets’ opposing trajectories since 2023, the art on view will be in non-selling exhibitions, while Sotheby’s is banking on sports cars, real estate, jewels, watches, and handbags to pay the bills. More than $150 million of the above will hit the auction block, with another $100-million-worth to be sold privately.
“For our inaugural Collectors’ Week in Abu Dhabi, we’ve assembled an unprecedented suite of offerings across our luxury portfolio and collaborated with some of the world’s leading brands,” Josh Pullan, Sotheby’s global head of luxury, said in a statement. “There is no better time or place to do this than Abu Dhabi, during the most dynamic moment in the city’s cultural calendar. Our aim is not only to present world-class treasures at auction, but also to build lasting connections with collectors in the region through talks, masterclasses and a museum-quality exhibition of artworks from around the world.”
Among the luxury auction lots will be three McLaren Racing cars spanning F1, IndyCar, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Another Jane Birkin handbag, this one described as “her most personal,” will be offered with a high estimate of $440,000. (Sotheby’s Paris sold the first-ever Hermès Birkin bag sold in July for €8.6 million/$10 million.) The largest “fancy vivid orangy pink diamond in the world” will also hit the block with a high estimate of $7 million, not to mention “two extraordinary properties, one in the French Rivera, the other—designed by Zaha Hadid—in Austria.”
As for the luxury items that will be sold privately, they include the largest flawless diamond in the world and the world’s biggest deep green diamond, according to the auction house. “A highly important ruby necklace and earring set by Harry Winston, presented alongside a curated selection of other extraordinary jewels” will also be available, so too Rolex and Patek Phillipe watches.
It’s rare for non-selling exhibitions to tout the prices of featured works, but Sotheby’s is doing it anyway, perhaps in an attempt to build hype. Together with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), the house is staging an art show at the St Regis Hotel on Saadiyat Island. It will feature “one of the greatest drawings by Dutch master Rembrandt ever to come to market [belonging to precious metals mogul Thomas S. Kaplan], and an adjacent exhibition of some of the most iconic works that have passed through Sotheby’s.” They include: Gustav Klimt’s Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan), which sold for $108.4 million in 2023; The original Birkin bag, crafted for Jane Birkin by Hermès in 1985, which sold for a record-breaking $10.1 million earlier this year; the Guennol Lioness, a 3-inch Mesopotamian limestone sculpture, which sold for $57 million in 2007. That’s still a record for any antiquity sold at auction, Sotheby’s said.
“Abu Dhabi represents a powerful convergence of visionary ambitions, limitless opportunities, and cultural vibrancy,” Jean-Luc Berrebi, a Sotheby’s board member focused on expanding collaboration with the UAE, said in a statement. “By expanding our footprint here, we’re strengthening long-standing relationships with preeminent partners and institutions and deepening the way we can meaningfully contribute to, and grow with, a region that is redefining global demand for art and luxury.”
Sotheby’s tried its hand at selling luxury goods in Saudi Arabia in February, which was the kingdom’s first ever international auction. The move was the first stage of billionaire owner Patrick Drahi’s plan to turn Sotheby’s into a luxury retail beast. Angling towards the Middle East makes sense: the region’s luxury market surged 6 percent last year, hitting almost $13 billion, according to a recent report from Dubai-based retailer and distributor Chalhoub Group. And a survey published by Boston Consulting Group, in partnership with Altagamma, the association of Italy’s top luxury labels, projected that the Middle Eastern luxury goods market will double in size by 2030 and grow to $35 billion to $40 billion, driven particularly by the UAE and especially Saudi Arabia.
