Phillips’s CEO Martin Wilson On What the House’s $507 Million Spring Reveals About the Market
Phillips celebrated its 230th anniversary with a solid $507 million spring season, up 60 percent from the previous year, according to numbers released this week. Even more telling than the headline total is the 90 percent sell-through rate, which confirms the impact of the auction house’s priority bidding and live-auction fee structures, which reward early written bids with a lower buyer’s premium. “What has been particularly encouraging this season is not just the strength of the results, but what they tell us about the market,” Phillips CEO Martin Wilson told Observer before confirming that priority bidding has been a highly successful tool. Presale bids have run at three times last year’s level and many sales have seen 40 percent or more of lots sold before the auctioneer takes to the rostrum. “Collectors have embraced it because it offers a genuine financial advantage, while consignors are seeing the benefit in the exceptional sell-through rates.”
The innovation simply rewards commitment, Wilson says. “Traditionally, there has been little incentive for bidders to declare their intentions before the auction begins. We wanted to change that.” By rewarding clients prepared to bid early—often at or above the low estimate—Phillips encourages buyers to engage well before the sale. “That creates real momentum going into the auction and, because those bidders are already invested in the outcome, usually leads to more competitive bidding once the lot comes under the hammer. Buyers benefit because they can save money if they are successful, while sellers benefit from stronger competition and greater certainty.”
Phillips’ recent results were also buoyed by its strong positioning in Asia. First to open a permanent Hong Kong headquarters in 2023, with a purpose-built exhibition space and saleroom, the house’s spring auctions in the Asia-Pacific capital achieved a 50 percent year-on-year increase, with 83 percent of lots selling above presale estimates. Thirty-four percent of buyers in the Hong Kong spring sales were new to Phillips, the average number of bidders per lot rose 23 percent year-on-year, and buying activity increased across Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Bidding and consigning continue to reflect how global the art market remains, Wilson says, noting that collectors are also becoming less constrained by geography: “They are increasingly willing to pursue the best objects wherever they come to market, and technology has made that easier than ever before. Throughout the spring season, we saw active participation from collectors across the Americas, Asia and Europe, which reflects not only strong demand for exceptional works but also the increasingly international way in which people collect.”
But the reported numbers suggest that Phillips’ ability to expand its buyer base depends in large part on its capacity to scale within today’s more buoyant luxury market. Watches are leading its collectibles offerings, often serving as an entry point for new money approaching auctions for the first time. “Modern and contemporary art remains at the heart of our business and always will. It is part of our DNA. But we are equally excited by the momentum we are seeing across our luxury categories, particularly watches, where we continue to reach new heights internationally,” Wilson says. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo just concluded the most successful watch auction season in the firm’s history, with all three live sales setting new global benchmarks. Geneva hosted the most successful watch auction ever held anywhere in the world; New York achieved the highest-ever watch auction total in the Americas; and in Hong Kong, the Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 “The Pink First Series” (1951) sold in May for HK$80,370,000 ($10,255,212), becoming the highest-value timepiece ever sold at auction in Asia.
Jewelry also performed strongly. Anchored by Collections & Provenance—a dedicated chapter placing special emphasis on period jewels and signed pieces with distinguished provenance, including jewels and objects from the Vanderbilt family and European noble families—the Geneva Jewels sale in May tripled its low estimate, led by a Van Cleef & Arpels coral, chrysoprase and diamond necklace/bracelet combination, Zip (2012), which sold for CHF619,200 ($796,809) against its CHF260,000-480,000 estimate. In Hong Kong and New York, signed pieces achieved a 100 percent sell-through rate, with 74 percent of lots selling above the high estimate.
Gen Z and Millennial participation was also strong in the steadily growing design segment, which in its June session in New York achieved a 90 percent sell-through rate by lot and 93 percent by value. The sale saw a 24 percent year-over-year increase in Gen Z and Millennial bidders, and half of all lots across the season sold above their high estimates.
Phillips also remains a leader in photography, with a stellar season led by Tina Modotti’s iconic Bandolier, Corn, Sickle (1927), which realized $645,000, more than six times its low estimate. Editions have also been a strong market: the department hosted two white-glove auctions this season, including the January Evening & Day Sale in London, which nearly doubled its estimate and achieved the highest total for a various-owner editions sale globally. The sale was led by Andy Warhol’s Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from Reigning Queens (F. & S. 336), 1985, which sold for £232,200 ($295,382) against its £100,000-150,000 estimate.
In Modern and Contemporary, meanwhile, after the cooling of speculation around the ultracontemporary—a market Phillips had largely led and helped ignite—the auction house may no longer be setting stellar records, but it continues to deliver solid results, often with a high sell-through rate. In May, Phillips’ Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York totaled $115,216,700 across 41 lots, a white-glove result that more than doubled the prior year’s total, led by Andy Warhol’s Sixteen Jackies (1964), which sold within estimate for $16,225,000. The most recent Modern & Contemporary Art Evening & Afternoon Sale, held in London on June 26, brought in £11,964,743 across 90 lots, with 91 percent sold by value and an 84 percent sell-through rate after four lots were withdrawn.
Phillips secured several important collections this season. One of the auction house’s most significant consignments was The Collection of Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr.—widely regarded as the most important Danish art collection in private hands—which sold practically white-glove, generating $18 million across five auctions in New York and London, surpassing its aggregate presale estimate and concluding with a 90 percent-sold online sale, with 43 percent of lots exceeding their high estimates and 16 works acquired by leading public institutions. A Life in Color: Property from the Estate of Tina Hills also achieved a remarkable 99 percent sell-through rate across Editions, Jewels, Design and Modern & Contemporary Art sales. The auction house has also sold around $2 million in art from the collection of disgraced art advisor Lisa Schiff, who in March 2025 was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for defrauding clients of her art advisory firm of millions. Proceeds from the sales will help satisfy the $6.4 million forfeiture and $9 million restitution she owes to her victims per the court order. Among the 220 pieces Phillips has sold since November 2024, the most expensive has been Joel Mesler’s 2021 painting Untitled (Bananas), auctioned for $69,850 in the New Now sale in February 2025.
On visible trends, Wilson confirmed a recurring theme in recent auction market analysis: more fluid cross-category collecting, as collectors pursue symbolic and cultural relevance across different types of objects that can enhance their personal storytelling. “One of the most interesting changes we are seeing is that people increasingly no longer think of themselves as art collectors, watch collectors, jewelry collectors or design collectors. They think of themselves simply as collectors,” Wilson says. “They are guided by quality, design and personal taste rather than traditional category boundaries, and they are increasingly comfortable moving between art, watches, jewelry, design and editions.”
That shift is reflected in, and related to, the younger audiences the auction house is increasingly attracting. This season, 40 percent of buyers were new to Phillips, while Millennials and Gen Z accounted for nearly one-third of all bidders and buyers. In private sales, one-third of buyers this season were entirely new to Phillips. For Wilson, the fact that younger clients identify with Phillips and its brand is no surprise. “Our focus mirrors that of the collectors who buy and sell with us. We have built a business around a carefully curated group of collecting categories and have always encouraged collectors to explore across them,” he explains. “Whether someone first discovers Phillips through a watch, a contemporary work of art or a design object, our ambition is the same: to create a collecting experience that is engaging, accessible and driven by expertise.”
Wilson acknowledges that buyer behavior is always evolving and that today’s collectors have an extraordinary amount of information at their fingertips and make full use of it. “They have done their homework, drawing on everything from specialist research and social media to online communities and A.I. They are confident enough to form their own views, willing to challenge conventional wisdom and far less constrained by traditional collecting categories.” Crucially, they are also increasingly buying works that reflect their own interests, tastes and values, rather than simply following established trends—a shift Wilson sees as enormously healthy for the market.
More collecting insights
