Open Bid — Daily Morning Briefing on Auctions, Luxury & Markets

June 15: Phillips Hits $75.8M Record Watch Sale with F.P. Journe for $13.9M; Christie's Design Tops $20M; Luxury Rallies on the Iran Deal
A record-breaking weekend for watches, a $20M Christie's Design sale, the South Asian art market still smashing records, a question mark over luxury handbags, and luxury stocks ripping on a US–Iran deal.

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Watches — A Record Weekend
- Phillips held the highest-grossing watch auction in US history: $75.8M across two days, 100% sold by lot
- An F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance sold for $13.9M — the highest price ever for a watch by an independent watchmaker
- Christie's Important Watches totaled $17.1M (99% sold by lot), led by the ultra-rare Patek Philippe "Red Dot" Ref. 3448G at $2.76M

Design
- Christie's Design sale totaled $20.2M, 89% sold by lot, 140% of the low estimate

South Asian Art
- At Christie's London, the Goodricke (tea-company) collection was led by a £3.8M Ganesh Pyne, with new auction highs for Abanindranath Tagore and Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar — the latest South Asian sale to smash expectations

Coming to the Block
- A class-winning 1954 Maserati A6GCS race car heads to Broad Arrow at Monterey Car Week (August), est. ~$3M

The Handbag Question
- The WSJ asks whether the luxury handbag's heyday is ending, pointing to an $8B slide in sales — even as the trophy end of the market holds firm

Luxury Business
- A new fund backed by LVMH and pro athletes (Dak Prescott, Tyrese Haliburton) is putting ~$50M into the activewear label Rhoback — luxury capital moving into performance wear
- Sources tell WWD that designer Bruno Sialelli (ex-Lanvin) has joined Balenciaga's studio, ahead of new creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli's debut

Markets — Luxury Rallies on the Iran News
- US stock futures jumped after the US and Iran reached an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz; that deal is the engine behind a powerful luxury rally
- European luxury opens (vs Friday's close; opened sharply higher, then faded): LVMH (MC) 535 EUR +4.8% (~+1.2% intraday); Kering (KER) 280 EUR +4.3%; Hermès (RMS) 1,766 EUR +4.1%; Richemont (CFR) 183 CHF +2.3%; Swatch (UHR) 214 CHF +2.2%; Watches of Switzerland (WOSG) 721p +1.2%; Burberry (BRBY) 1,201p +2.1%
- A footnote from Friday's SpaceX listing: South Korea's watchdog has widened a review of broker Mirae Asset Securities over a failed allocation of SpaceX shares

Remembering David Hockney
- Tributes continue for the painter, who died last week at 88 — from Tracey Emin to former Tate director Nicholas Serota

By the Numbers — from the ALT/FNDATA database
- F.P. Journe: the prior auction high in our data was $10.8M (Phillips, December 2025) — context for today's $13.9M record
- 1954 Maserati A6GCS: the last one in our data sold for $2.3M (RM Sotheby's, November 2025) — a same-model comp for the ~$3M upcoming lot
- Handbags: the top result over the past year is a rare Hermès Birkin 20 in matte alligator that sold for ~$490K at Christie's — the trophy end is holding up

Week Ahead
- Sotheby's Important Watches caps a remarkable week of watch sales
- RM Sotheby's Sealed (featuring a 1969 Lamborghini Miura) closes June 17

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Closing Price — Mon-Fri at 5 PM ET
- Art Market — Tuesdays

Creators and Guests

Host
Sharon Obuobi

What is Open Bid — Daily Morning Briefing on Auctions, Luxury & Markets?

Open Bid is your weekday-morning briefing on the world of luxury and collectibles. In under five minutes, host Sharon Obuobi covers the biggest stories across fine art, jewelry, watches, handbags, and collector cars — the record auction results, the moves inside the luxury houses, and what the markets are doing that morning — all backed by proprietary data from ALT/FNDATA. Whether you collect, invest, or just love this world, it's the fastest way to start the day informed.

Learn more at www.altfndata.com.

OPEN BID — Monday, June 15, 2026

[INTRO]

Good morning. It's Monday, June 15. I'm Sharon Obuobi, and this is Open Bid from ALT/FNDATA.

[A RECORD-BREAKING WEEKEND FOR WATCHES]

We start with watches, where the weekend delivered a remarkable string of auction records. Phillips held the highest-grossing watch auction in US history. Its New York sale pulled in 75.8 million dollars across two days, and every single lot sold.

The standout was an F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance, which sold for 13.9 million dollars. That is now the highest price ever paid at auction for a watch by an independent watchmaker. And it caps a fast climb for the brand. In the ALT/FNDATA database, the previous high for an F.P. Journe was 10.8 million dollars, at Phillips last December.

And the records were not only at Phillips. Christie's Important Watches in New York totaled 17.1 million dollars and was 99% sold by lot. It was led by an ultra-rare Patek Philippe, the reference 3448G known as the "Red Dot," which sold for 2.76 million dollars.

[CHRISTIE'S DESIGN]

The market saw strong results in design, too. The Christie's Design sale in New York totaled 20.2 million dollars, 89% sold by lot, and 140% of its low estimate. The auction house pointed to sustained momentum in the global market for collectible design.

[SOUTH ASIAN ART]

The South Asian art market keeps setting records. At Christie's in London, the collection of the tea company Goodricke was led by a 3.8 million pound painting by Ganesh Pyne, and other works also set new auction highs.

[COMING TO THE BLOCK]

Now for the car collectors.. a class-winning 1954 Maserati A6GCS race car, campaigned throughout the 1954 racing season, is heading to auction through Broad Arrow during Monterey Car Week in August, with an estimate of nearly 3 million dollars. For context, the last 1954 A6GCS in the ALT/FNDATA database sold for 2.3 million dollars at RM Sotheby's, so this estimate marks a step up.

[THE HANDBAG QUESTION]

On a cooler note from the luxury market.. The Wall Street Journal asks whether the luxury handbag's heyday is ending. It points to an 8 billion dollar slide in sales, a sign that attitudes toward designer bags are shifting. But our own data shows the split clearly. The single highest handbag result in the ALT/FNDATA database over the past year is a rare Hermès Birkin 20, in matte alligator, that sold at Christie's for nearly 490,000 dollars. The middle of the market may be cooling, but the trophy end is as strong as ever.

[LUXURY BUSINESS]

We have two quick moves in the business of luxury.

A new fund backed by LVMH and a group of professional athletes, including Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and the Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton, is putting nearly 50 million dollars into the activewear label Rhoback. It is a sign of luxury money pushing deeper into performance and athleisure wear.

And in fashion, sources tell WWD that the French designer Bruno Sialelli, who made his name at Lanvin, has joined Balenciaga's studio, just ahead of the debut of its new creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli. It is an early look at the team Piccioli is assembling as he takes over one of Kering's flagship houses.

[MARKETS]

In the global markets, the main story is driving major economic waves. US stock futures jumped after the United States and Iran reached an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping route the war had threatened. That deal is the engine behind a powerful luxury rally.

Here is where the European luxury names opened this morning, against Friday's close.

They opened sharply higher, then gave back some of it.

LVMH, ticker MC on Euronext Paris, opened at 535 EUR, up almost 5%, though it has since eased to about a 1% gain.

Kering opened up about 4.3%, and Hermès up about 4%.

In Zurich, Richemont and Swatch each opened up about 2%. In London, Burberry and Watches of Switzerland opened up 1 to 2%.

[QUICK HIT]

And the art world is still mourning David Hockney, who died last week at 88. Tributes have poured in from across the field, from the artist Tracey Emin to the former Tate director Nicholas Serota.

[WEEK AHEAD]

On the calendar, Sotheby's Important Watches caps a remarkable run of watch sales this week. And the RM Sotheby's Sealed auction, featuring a 1969 Lamborghini Miura, closes on June 17.

[OUTRO]

That's Open Bid for Monday, June 15. Closing Price follows this evening at 5 PM Eastern.

Before your next luxury purchase, make sure you’re paying the best price for your investment. The ALT/FNDATA Price Check gives you comparable recent prices so you can buy with confidence. Just paste the url product and get instant results. It's free at altfndata.com/price-check (altfndata dot com slash price dash check).

I'm Sharon Obuobi, from ALT/FNDATA. Subscribe to get notifications on new episodes, and if you loved the show, please give us a five-star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. I'll talk with you in the next episode.