Sotheby’s Unveils $1 Billion Of Luxury And Fine Art For Debut Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week
In collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Sotheby’s is presenting an extraordinary curation of rarefied marvels across art, fashion and fine jewellery this December
Sotheby’s has announced it is launching its inaugural Collectors’ Week at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort next month in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, presenting a billion-dollar showcase of art, jewellery, and luxury icons. The exhibitions open 2 December, while the auction lots take the stage on the 5th.
At the heart of the week is a suite of luxury sales totalling around $150 million, headlined by pieces that feel less like highly craved accessories and more like cultural artefacts. Jane Birkin’s own Birkin — one of the five she truly lived with, carried, and personalised — arrives with the kind of provenance that turns a handbag into a relic.
Nearby sits a private-sale trove worth over $100 million: the largest flawless diamond in existence, lucid as frozen light; the largest deep green diamond, and a showstopping ruby necklace and earrings by Harry Winston, the kind of suite that most can only dream of. Beloved Hermes Birkins and Kellys are set to be presented in rare materials and rare moods, joined by modern timepieces from Rolex and Patek Philippe.
But the week isn’t only about what can be worn or carried. Sotheby’s and ADIO are staging a landmark exhibition at the St. Regis, anchored by drawings by Rembrandt, Gustav Klimt’s Lady with a Fan, the Guennol Lioness – a 3-inch Mesopotamian limestone sculpture – and Banksy’s Girl Without Balloon, the artwork that famously began to self-shred moments after the hammer fell.
“Hosting the inaugural Collectors’ Week in Abu Dhabi reflects our city’s leading position in the world of rare and highly coveted collector pieces. The unveiling of extraordinary items – from McLaren’s next F1 concept to the largest flawless diamond in the world and the first complete Patek Philippe Star Caliber 2000 ever offered – affirms Abu Dhabi’s place at the heart of the world’s most exceptional collections,” says Noora Al Foulathi, Head of Abu Dhabi Retail. “This partnership with Sotheby’s cements our city as the ‘Capital of Collectibles’; and beyond the auctions themselves, it’s about the conversations, connections, and sense of community that events like this create. We are proud to welcome this debut edition to the capital.”
Imagery supplied
