Editor’s Note
This month’s Seoul Auction highlights a robust luxury market, with rare timepieces and high-value jewelry drawing significant collector interest. The featured lots underscore the growing vitality of South Korea’s auction scene.
An auction featuring 108 lots with a total estimated value of 8.9 billion won will be held. The luxury section, featuring limited-edition watches and jewelry, is drawing particular attention.
A watch limited to 88 pieces worldwide, inspired by the film ‘The Godfather’, is set to be auctioned. The domestic luxury auction market is showing signs of vitality, with other highlights including a high-end watch inspired by 1960s casino culture and a ring set with an 8.8-carat yellow diamond.
On the 12th, Seoul Auction announced it has prepared a special luxury section for its September fine art auction, to be held on the 23rd at its Gangnam Center with 108 lots valued at 8.9 billion won. The move signifies the auction house’s expansion beyond fine art into a high-end lifestyle platform.
Two limited-edition watches from the high-end jewelry brand Jacob & Co., headquartered in New York, are among the notable items. The ‘Opera Godfather’, inspired by the film ‘The Godfather’, features a figurine of the protagonist ‘Vito Corleone’ and a music box mechanism that plays the film’s main theme. With a worldwide limited production of 88 pieces, its estimated price is 480 to 700 million won. The ‘Casino Tourbillon’, which draws inspiration from 1960s casino culture with a watch face designed like a roulette table, is also being offered with an estimate of 320 to 500 million won. It is a rare watch, limited to 101 pieces worldwide.
Additionally, the luxury section features limited-edition ‘Lady Dior’ bags created in collaboration with Korean artists Lee Bul and Woo Kukwon for Dior. Lee Bul’s Dior bag, limited to 150 pieces worldwide in 2017, holds significant collectible value. A ring set with an 8.88-carat yellow diamond, incorporating the meaning of the number ‘8’ which symbolizes luck and prosperity in China, will also be auctioned with an estimate of 200 to 350 million won.
The modern and contemporary art section centers on major works by artists representing Korea, including Ha Chong-Hyun’s 200-piece joinery work and Lee Bae’s over 2-meter-tall ‘Brushstroke E’. The antique art section features works such as ‘Yeongmodo’ (Painting of Birds and Animals) by the late Joseon scholar-painter Seokchang Hong Se-seop and a ‘White Porcelain Jar with Blue Underglaze Painting of Plum and Bird Design and Lid’, believed to be from the early Joseon period.
The preview runs until the 23rd. From the 15th to the 22nd, a ’15-Minute Highlight Tour’ introducing the special luxury session will be held twice daily at 11 AM and 3 PM. Tours require prior reservation.
