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Your daily brief on the auction and collectibles market. Today: a $17.3M Fabergé collection at Christie's, a strong Asian-art result in Paris, the Empire State builder's Patek heading to Phillips, Porsche ruling out an electric 911, Frieze London's return, and where the luxury names opened.
Good morning. It's Thursday, June 11. I'm Sharon, and this is Open Bid from ALT/FNDATA.
We start with a strong result. A Treasured History: The Stream Family Collection, sold at Christie's in New York on June 10, totaled $17.3 million. It was the collection of two American women, Matilda Geddings Gray and her niece, Matilda Gray Stream, and it was especially rich in Fabergé, including flowers, frames, and presentation boxes once linked to Russia's Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. The live sale was 99% sold by lot, and the total reached 231% of the low estimate, more than double the low end of what Christie's had expected. An online portion stays open for bidding through June 17.
There was another strong result in Paris. Christie's Art d'Asie sale, part of the ninth edition of the Printemps Asiatique, or Asian Spring, totaled 9.1 million euros. That is about three times its pre-sale estimate. The sale drew bidders from more than 20 countries.
A watch with real history is heading to auction. It is a yellow-gold Patek Philippe, made in 1929 with a Tiffany and Company dial, and it belonged to Paul Starrett, the master builder who, with his twin brother, put up the Empire State Building. Starrett also built the Flatiron Building, the Plaza Hotel, and the old Penn Station. The watch goes under the hammer at Phillips in New York on June 13, as lot 27, with a modest estimate of 15,000 to 30,000 dollars.
Some news for the car collectors. Porsche's chief executive, Michael Leiters, says an electric 911 is not happening. The company will keep investing in electric vehicles across the rest of its range, but its flagship sports car, the 911, will keep a combustion engine. The 911 has been offered as a hybrid for the past two years, in the GTS and Turbo S models, and that appears to be as far as Porsche will take it for now. The decision comes as electric demand has cooled: Porsche's battery-powered Taycan has sold below expectations, and the company has delayed its planned electric 718 sports car.
To the art fairs. Frieze London returns this October with 172 galleries, and Artnet notes a few high-profile names are missing from the list this year. Together with its sister fair, Frieze Masters, the event will host almost 300 dealers in Regent's Park from October 14 to 18. A new curated section, and a collaboration between the David Zwirner gallery and the Joan Miró estate, headline Frieze Masters.
At the Couture show in Las Vegas, jewelers told WWD they are seeing what they call a K-shaped consumer: demand is strong at both the high end and the entry end of the market, while the middle is softer. The traditional sweet spot, pieces priced from 5,000 to 10,000 dollars, felt notably less prominent this year, even as the high-end client kept buying. As Jennifer Gandia, co-owner of Greenwich Street Jewelers, put it to WWD: overall, clients are investing in fewer, more expensive pieces rather than many small, trend-driven items.
Two moves in the luxury houses. Saint Laurent has named Anouck Duranteau-Loeper, most recently chief executive of Isabel Marant, as its deputy chief executive, in charge of product. She will report to chief executive Cédric Charbit. And Hugo Boss is weighing an unsolicited takeover offer from Mike Ashley's Frasers Group, which already owns roughly 26% of the German menswear maker. WWD reports the bid at about 2 billion euros.
Three quick ones. In whiskey, Old Forester is about to release its collectible President's Choice single barrels, a high-proof bourbon and rye, and Garrison Brothers is dropping a pair of sherry-cask-finished bourbons. In authentication, scientists say they have found a new way to spot fake Van Goghs, using a technique called surface metrology to read the texture of a painting like a fingerprint. And in the Bahamas, three pirate-age shipwrecks have been found in Nassau Harbour, one of which may have belonged to the pirate Henry Every.
A look at the backdrop. Wall Street had its worst day of 2026 yesterday, on fresh Middle East clashes and inflation worries, with oil rising after President Trump said the US would resume strikes on Iran. This morning the mood has turned: stocks are bouncing and oil has given back its gains, after the US wound down its strikes and hopes grew that talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could resume. Separately, The Economist reports that the world's strategic oil reserves are running out fast.
Here is where the European luxury names opened this morning, against Wednesday's close. The US names open later, at 9:30 AM Eastern.
LVMH, ticker MC on Euronext Paris, opened at 486 EUR, down about 0.4% from Wednesday's 488.
Kering, ticker KER on Euronext Paris, opened at 252 EUR, down about 1.5%.
Hermès, ticker RMS on Euronext Paris, opened at 1,630 EUR, down about 0.4%.
In Zurich, Richemont, ticker CFR on the SIX Swiss Exchange, opened at 168 Swiss francs, down about 0.4%, and Swatch, ticker UHR, opened at 200 Swiss francs, roughly flat.
In London, Watches of Switzerland, ticker WOSG, opened at 698 pence, down about 0.5%, and Burberry, ticker BRBY, opened at 1,118 pence, roughly flat.
On the calendar, today is busy in the salerooms. Bonhams holds its London Fine Watches sale, and Christie's holds its first London sale of South Asian modern and contemporary art in 7 years. Tomorrow, June 12, Christie's Important Watches is in New York, Christie's opens its Paris Hermès handbag sale online, and Sotheby's runs its Gem Drop. On Saturday, June 13, Bonhams sells about 100 cars from the National Automobile Museum in Reno, and Phillips holds its New York Watch Auction. Sotheby's Important Watches follows on the 15th.
That is Open Bid for Thursday, June 11. Closing Price publishes this evening at 5 PM Eastern, and Auto Market publishes later today.
I'm Sharon, from ALT/FNDATA.
