On Tuesday, the auction house Phillips said its spring season generated $507 million in auction sales, a 60 percent increase from a year earlier, as a record-breaking watch business and stronger demand for high-value consignments helped propel one of the house’s best performances in recent years.
The auction house said average lot value increased 55 percent over the same period, while maintaining a 90 percent sell-through rate by lot. Evening sales achieved a 94 percent sell-through rate by lot and 99 percent by value, and the season’s hammer-price-to-low-estimate index reached 165 percent.
Watches accounted for $235.5 million of the total—nearly half of Phillips’ auction sales this spring—proving how central the category has become to the company’s business. The house said its Geneva sale was the most successful watch auction ever held, while its New York and Hong Kong watch auctions also set regional records.
“These results reflect not only the strength of the market, but the progress we have made as a business over the past year,” Phillips chief executive Martin Wilson said in a statement, attributing the gains to exceptional property, global participation, and sustained demand.
The results arrive at a time when the broader auction market has shown signs of growing more selective. Recent evening sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s demonstrated that collectors remain willing to compete aggressively for museum-quality works while proving far less forgiving of more ordinary material.
