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

July 1: Christie's Old Masters Set 7 World Records While a Contemporary Collection Flops Online with 55% Unsold; Lagerfeld's Sketches Come to Market at Sotheby's
H2 2026 opens on the same split as the H1 with Christie's Classic Week setting seven world records in London while, online, a once-buzzy contemporary collection could barely find a buyer. Plus a thousand unseen Karl Lagerfeld sketches head to Sotheby's, Bugatti builds a one-off hypercar, and a soft open for European luxury to start the half.

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A Tale of Two Salerooms
- Christie's Classic Week evening sales in London (Old Masters + The Exceptional Sale) made around 64 million dollars and set seven world auction records, led by Titian's Rest on the Flight into Egypt at 17.6 million pounds (about 22 million dollars), an artist record.
- The same week, Christie's online sale of the contemporary Zabludowicz works flopped: 55 percent of lots failed to sell, once-buzzy artists went for a fraction of old prices, one work fetched just 127 pounds. The flight to quality, lot by lot.

Lagerfeld Comes to Market
- Sotheby's is holding its sixth sale of the late Karl Lagerfeld's collection, including a thousand previously unseen sketches, plus his gloves, iPods and hundreds of drawings. A designer's archive as coveted as anything on the runway.

Quick Hits
- Bugatti unveiled a one-of-a-kind hypercar, the Mistral Blanc Éternel, a 1,578 hp roadster built with porcelain atelier KPM. More tomorrow on Auto Market.
- Loro Piana (LVMH) won a Turin injunction against copies of its White Sole shoes. At the top of luxury, the design is the asset worth defending.

The Markets (Wednesday open)
- European luxury opened soft to start H2: Burberry down almost 3 percent, LVMH off a fraction, Richemont down about 0.8 percent, Kering up about 1 percent (steadying after Monday's rout). Full read tonight on Closing Price.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Luxury Spending — this weekend on watches, jewelry and handbags
- Closing Price — this evening, the day's signals
- Open Bid returns tomorrow

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 — Wednesday, July 1, 2026

[INTRO]

Good morning. It's Wednesday, July 1. I'm Sharon, and this is Open Bid from ALT/FNDATA.

Today, the second half of the year began with the same split that ran through the first. At Christie's, the Old Masters sale set world records, while online, a once-buzzy contemporary collection could barely find a buyer. Plus a thousand unseen Karl Lagerfeld sketches head to auction, Bugatti builds a one-of-a-kind hypercar, and we take a look at how the European markets opened today.

This episode of Open Bid is brought to you by ALT/FNDATA, the market intelligence platform for insights on the luxury markets and related public equities. With a membership, you can unlock access to dashboards, reports and cutting-edge insights to keep your finger on the pulse of the market and drive your competitive advantage. Learn more at altfndata.com/membership.

[A TALE OF TWO SALEROOMS]

We completed the first half of 2026 with the very top of the luxury auctions market setting high records. At Christie's in London, the Classic Week evening sales, the Old Masters and the Exceptional Sale, brought in around 64 million dollars and set seven world auction records.The star was a painting by Titian, the great Venetian master of the Renaissance, with an early work called ‘Rest on the Flight into Egypt’. It sold for 17.6 million pounds, about 22 million dollars, the most ever paid for a work by Titian at auction.

The very same week, however, told the other half of the story. Christie's offered a second tranche of the Zabludowicz collection online with contemporary works, and the result could hardly have been more different: fifty-five percent of the lots went unsold, once-buzzy artists changed hands for a fraction of what they had commanded at their peak, and a single work fetched just 127 pounds. Within one house, in a single week, the whole divergence was laid bare, a Titian work half a millennium old setting an all-time record even as speculative contemporary art, bought at the top of the market, could scarcely find a buyer at any price.

[LAGERFELD COMES TO MARKET]

Staying in the salerooms, a piece of fashion history is coming up. Sotheby's is holding its sixth sale of the collection of the late Karl Lagerfeld, and this one includes a thousand of his previously unseen sketches, along with his gloves, his iPods, and hundreds of drawings. Lagerfeld's estate has become one of the most reliable draws in the collectibles world, proof that a great designer's personal archive can be as coveted as anything he ever sent down a runway.

[QUICK HITS]

Two quick notes.

At the very peak of the car world, Bugatti unveiled a one-of-a-kind hypercar, the Mistral Blanc Éternel, a 1,578 horsepower roadster built with the German porcelain atelier KPM and made as a single example for a buyer who will never see another like it. We will have more on the collector market this weekend, on Auto Market.

And Loro Piana, the LVMH brand, ticker MC in Paris at 484 euros, won a legal victory in Turin against a company selling copies of its White Sole shoes.

[THE MARKETS, A SOFT START TO THE HALF]

Finally, a look at how the European luxury names opened as the second half begins.

Burberry was the weakest, down almost 3 percent, LVMH slipped a fraction, and Richemont eased about 0.8 percent. Kering steadied after Monday's rout, up about 1 percent. The US names open later this morning, and we will have the full read tonight on Closing Price.

[OUTRO]

That's it on Open Bid for today, Wednesday, July 1. Luxury Spending is out later this morning with the week in watches, jewelry and handbags, and Closing Price covers the day's signals this evening.

For insights on the data behind today's stories, the ALT/FNDATA membership gives you access to a rich library of market data dashboards, reports and insights. Get started at altfndata.com/membership or reach us anytime at info@altfndata.com.

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I'm Sharon, from ALT/FNDATA. I'll talk with you in the next episode.