GOING FORWARD

Christie’s Asia Pacific Vice President and Head of Watches gives us a hint of what to expect in the auction scenes

- RUCKDEE CHOTJINDA

We met Alexander Bigler back when he was based in Thailand. Today, the soft spoken gentleman serves as the Vice President and Head of Watches, Christie’s Asia Pacific. We got in touch with him in early August for some insights into how the watch auctions are faring, and to see if we are missing out on any trend.

How many people work there at the Hong Kong office of Christie’s? And what is a normal workday like for the Head of Watches?

We have around 200 staff in our Hong Kong office, and six of them, including myself, are in the Watches team here. As the headquarters for Asia Pacific region, we also have watch specialists stationing in Japan and Shanghai to engage with collectors. As Head of Watches, I have a very long task list every day, from answering clients’ enquiries, approaching consignors for next auctions, meeting either physically or virtually with my team and our global watches teams for auction updates and industry news, aligning sale strategies and promotions with marketing teams, to prepare sale catalogues etc.

How do you source watches for the auctions? Or do the watches generally come to you in the first place anyway?