Editor’s Note: This story is part of a new series on the convergence of art and luxury. See all of our reporting on the topic here.
Billionaire Patrick Drahi’s masterplan to transform Sotheby’s into a luxury retail beast will get a steroid injection in December, when the house holds Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week, its first series of luxury marquee sales in the emirate. Formula 1 cars, the fastest-ever Aston Martin, hulking diamonds, rare Rolexes, and loads of other expensive shiny things will hit the auction block from December 3 to 5. The auction house hopes to make a splash: the sales will coincide with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit, Abu Dhabi Finance Week, and Bitcoin MENA. All eyes will be on the city, which Sotheby’s described as “the world’s new capital of art, culture, and luxury” in a promotional video for the upcoming sales.
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Sotheby’s made its relationship with the Gulf state official last summer when it sold a minority stake to Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund and investment company, ADQ. As part of the deal, ADQ bought newly issued Sotheby’s shares to “reduce leverage and support the company’s growth and innovation plans,” a statement said at the time. Still, Drahi remained the majority shareholder and is pumping additional capital into the auction business under the agreement. The total planned investment of both ADQ and Drahi is a cool $1 billion. You can now add in the support Sotheby’s is getting for Collectors’ Week from the state-owned Abu Dhabi Investment Office.
That’s far from the only money the emirates are throwing at art and culture. In 2021, Abu Dhabi set aside $6 billion to grow its creative industries—in addition to the $27 billion it allocated toward turning Saadiyat Island into a museum destination featuring the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the incoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, and the Zayed National Museum.
But make no mistake, the hunger for art in the UAE pales in comparison to the thirst for luxury, which is no doubt the market Sotheby’s is really after.
The Middle East’s luxury market surged 6 percent last year, hitting almost $13 billion, according to a recent report from Dubai-based retailer and distributor Chalhoub Group. And a survey published by Boston Consulting Group, in partnership with Altagamma, the association of Italy’s top luxury labels, projected that the Middle Eastern luxury goods market will double in size by 2030 and grow to $35–$40 billion, driven particularly by the UAE and especially Saudi Arabia.
For comparison, ArtTactic reported that contemporary art sales at auction in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) generated just $22.8 million in 2024. Demand is growing—that total is a 223 percent surge from 2023.
Still, it’s a clear signal that Sotheby’s is not holding an art sale at Collectors’ Week—only a non-selling exhibition featuring works from Old Masters to contemporary. Fine art sales at Sotheby’s fell 31 percent in 2024 from the year prior, generating $3.8 billion. The house’s consolidated luxury sales, on the other hand, have grown threefold since 2019, topping $2 billion last year and accounting for roughly one-third of the $6 billion Sotheby’s took in during 2024.
Is it plausible that Sotheby’s luxury sales could one day outstrip its art trades? While Josh Pullan, the global head of the house’s luxury division, declined to answer directly, he told ARTnews that luxury is part of Sotheby’s growth strategy and “an important complement to the fine art side of the business.”
“Value creation is not only about more sales, more categories, and more clients—it’s about the interplay between art and luxury,” he wrote in an email. “From Patek to Picasso, Fontana to Ferrari, and Birkin to Basquiat, we are constantly seeing fine art collectors participate in luxury, and luxury collectors pursue fine art.”
Despite the apparent demand in the region, Sotheby’s first shot at selling luxury goods in Saudi Arabia this February was underwhelming—though it did serve as valuable market research. The two-part auction, the first half of which comprised Western and Islamic contemporary and modern art, while the second half offered luxury goods, totaled $17.3 million (squarely within its $14 million–$20 million estimate). A third of the lots sold to local buyers. A third of bidders were under 40. However, only 77 of 117 lots sold (a 65 percent sell-through rate), and the price confidence (percentage of lots sold above mid-estimate) was just 17.9 percent. Around half of the 28 jewelry lots went unsold, as did 8 of the 17 handbags.
Daniel Langer, the founder and CEO of global luxury brand strategy firm Équité, told ARTnews that while Sotheby’s Saudi outing was “respectable,” while the sell-through rate and unsold lots made clear that “momentum will not happen on brand name alone.”
“The Saudi result showed what the global data already tells us: demand for luxury is not a proxy for strong auction outcomes,” Langer went on. “The top end of the art market is soft, interest rates remain a headwind for art-backed financing, and several highly promoted lots have struggled globally.”
When asked whether the Saudi result shaped Sotheby’s strategy for Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week, Pullan sidestepped the question.
“We’ve taken a completely unique approach for Abu Dhabi in every aspect, and in December we expect a mix of global, regional, and local participation to attend and compete for the incredible selection of property we’ve curated,” the house’s luxury head said. “The point of Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week is really the curation. These are pieces you can’t just walk into a boutique and buy—they’re unique or ultra-rare, often one-of-a-kind, often with extraordinary provenance. That level of exclusivity is what sets the sale apart.”
Among the top cars on offer are a one-off 2017 Pagani Zonda 760 Riviera in pearl white with blue accents and exposed carbon fiber (estimate: $9.5–$10.5 million), and a rare 2010 Aston Martin One-77 (estimate: $1.3–$1.6 million). The sales also include an “exceptionally rare and highly coveted” Rolex ‘Oyster Albino’ Daytona watch (estimate: $500,000–$1 million), and the largest “fancy vivid orangy pink” diamond ever graded—nearly 32 carats (estimate: $5–$7 million). That last lot is part of a single-owner sale with an overall estimate of $20 million.
Three of Sotheby’s luxury sales in June in New York flirted with their high estimates: its Handbags and Accessories auction totaled $2.5 million (estimate: $2.2–$3.2 million); Fine Jewelry took in $8.4 million (estimate: $6.4–$9.5 million); and High Jewelry generated $31.4 million (estimate: $21–$31.6 million). That’s decent form going into Abu Dhabi.
In the opinion of Équité’s Langer, for Sotheby’s to succeed in Abu Dhabi, it must “curate for cultural relevance, provenance clarity, and discreet rarity rather than chasing headline lots.” Second, he added, the house should turn the week into “a learning and belonging journey, not just a sale.” That, according to Langer, means building tight relationships through private previews in collectors’ homes or offering tailored financing guidance. Lastly, the sales must serve as “the social centerpiece of a multi-day program.”
“If Sotheby’s executes an education-first, hyper-personalized client strategy and treats Collectors’ Week as a cultural moment rather than a transactional event, Abu Dhabi can outperform Saudi’s debut and set a new benchmark for the region,” he said.