Watches, art, wine and cars — the auction block as an asset class.
The buyer's side of an auction is mostly fixed. The seller's side is negotiated, consignment by consignment, and it is the only part of the process with no published price list. What a minimum-price guarantee, an irrevocable bid and an enhanced hammer actually commit a consignor to.
September 17, 2026 · 7 min read
Four years into the sorting, the secondary watch market has stopped falling and started telling the truth — about hype references, enduring ones, and why the queue at your authorised dealer still matters.
September 11, 2026 · 4 min read
The hammer price is the beginning of the bill, not the end of it. A field guide to premiums, reserves, condition reports, telephone bids and the paperwork that follows the applause.
September 10, 2026 · 4 min read
Fine wine is the strangest asset in a serious portfolio — illiquid, fragile and slowly being drunk. What Liv-ex measures, what bonded storage protects, and why your cellar should run a surplus of pleasure.
September 9, 2026 · 4 min read
The boom years are over at the brokerage docks. Today's buyer asks about crew and running costs before length overall — and that question is quietly reshaping what gets bought, refitted and chartered.
September 8, 2026 · 4 min read
Private banks will lend against your Basquiat at half its value, with a valuer checking in yearly. Art-secured lending is useful, occasionally elegant and frequently vanity — the skill is telling which.
September 7, 2026 · 4 min read
The first collectible car sets the pattern for every car after it. Buy from people who stake their name on the sale, demand the history file, and choose the marque with the deepest club.
September 6, 2026 · 4 min read
