Fall Auctions Open Strong in Hong Kong and New York
Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips have opened the autumn auction season with strong early results in Hong Kong and New York.
ARTnews reported the early fall performance on 8 October 2026. Bidding is brisk. The first totals point to a busy two weeks across art, jewels and photographs.
Hong Kong did much of the early running. The city's fall auctions topped US$255 million, Artnet reported on 2 October 2026. Within that, Christie's, the London-headquartered auction house, said its Hong Kong 20th/21st Century Autumn Sales totalled HK$957 million / US$122 million, in figures announced on 1 October 2026.
Jewels added sparkle to the Hong Kong round. Christie's put forward two leading lots for its Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels Autumn Auction: an 8.41-carat fancy vivid purple-pink diamond and diamond ring, and a 10.10-carat ruby and diamond brooch by Cartier, the French jewellery house.
New York picks up the baton this week. Phillips, the London-based auction house, lists a Photographs sale in New York on 8 October 2026. Sotheby's in New York lists sales in its calendar for 7 October 2026 at 10:00 AM EDT and 8 October 2026 at 12:00 PM EDT. Its online Watches selling session runs from 1 October at 10am to 9 October at 10am ET 2026.
Phillips also flagged its October Editions & Works on Paper auctions in New York, with highlights announced on 7 October 2026. Editions means prints made in multiples; works on paper covers drawings, watercolours and photographs.
For fans, this means watching not just the prices but the till. Phillips is selling this season under a new buyer's premium, the fee added on top of the winning bid, with a Priority Bidding option. A Priority Bid is a written binding bid placed at least 48 hours before a live sale starts, at or above the lot's published low estimate, the minimum price printed in the catalogue. A successful Priority bidder pays the lower premium rate, even if they bid again in the room, according to Phillips. Martin Wilson, chief executive officer of Phillips, is named in that statement. The new rates apply to live auctions in all categories except Watches, and timed online-only sales cannot use Priority Bidding.
The early signs follow a firm first half for Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips and Heritage, the Dallas-based house. For context, New York art auctions at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips totalled US$1.2 billion in November 2024, according to Bloomberg.
What makes this stand out is the calendar. Hong Kong's spring and autumn rounds now feed straight into New York's October photographs, prints and watches sales, then the November marquee weeks for modern and contemporary art. Follow the object, the money and the paperwork, and the next test is whether New York sustains Hong Kong's pace.
