Christie’s Americas has tapped two new experts to bolster its growing watches department. Keith Davis has been hired as the new head of watches, and Adam Victor is now a senior watch consultant for the auction house.
Both began working for Christie’s on July 6 and are based out of the company’s New York City office.
Davis is the former director of timepieces at Heritage Auctions, and also oversaw the wholesale distribution business of Vacheron Constantin as its commercial director. He was introduced to watches by his grandfather, who repaired them, and held watch restoration apprenticeships in England and the United States.
New senior watches consultant Victor spent 25 years in the fashion industry, working as an executive for companies including LVMH, DKNY, and Narciso Rodriguez. And he has “dedicated the last 30 years to researching, collecting, and consulting clients and collectors on the rarest and finest timepieces,” according to a Christie’s statement.
Particularly knowledgeable about vintage watches made between the 1930s and the 1970s, Victor has “chased, owned, and placed important watches in private collections and museums all over the world” and has been “a historic point of reference to some of the most prestigious watch brands and media outlets.”
Aline Sylla-Walbaum, global managing director of Christie’s Luxury, said of the new hires in the same release, “This season has been an unprecedented success for the category, and we see the momentum only continuing under their leadership. They both not only bring world-class knowledge of horology and timepieces, but decades of experience working in the luxury sector for some of the biggest names.”
Like most auction houses during the COVID-19 pandemic, Christie’s has enjoyed skyrocketing sales at its watch and jewelry sales in the last 18 months.
Its luxury in-person watch sales in Hong Kong in May broke the house’s own record for highest ever sale total for a various-owner watches sale. And the auction house also saw 100% sell-through at both its live and online watch auctions that same month, while achieving 10 auction records for brands including Patek Philippe, Rolex, and F.P. Journe.
Top: An important vintage Patek Philippe watch that sold for $3.7 million in May, setting a new auction record for the reference (all photos courtesy of Christie’s)
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