Jewellery Specialist

The auction market rebounded hard in H1 2026 - what it means if you are selling. By Richard The first half of 2026 was the auction market's strongest six-month stretch since 2022. Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips took a combined $6.77bn at public auction, close to 70% ahead of the same period in 2025. Christie's reported total revenue of $4.5bn, with public auction sales of $3.5bn - up 71% year on year. Sotheby's was closely comparable: $3.4bn at public auction, up 59%, with total turnover of $4.4bn including a record $826m of private sales. Both houses reported sell-through rates by lot of roughly 90%. What actually drove it. Three things, none of which are quite the same as "the market is back": * Major estate material. Single-owner collections did a great deal of the work. Jackson Pollock's Number 7A (1948) made $181.2m and Constantin Brancusi's Danaïde $107.6m, both from the Newhouse collection. * Conservative estimates. Lower published estimates pull bidders in and make results look stronger against expectation. * Luxury. Watches, jewellery, cars and handbags are now the second-largest revenue stream at both houses - Christie's luxury sales reached $539m, up 15%. Twentieth- and twenty-first-century art remains the dominant category: $2.3bn at Christie's and an estimated $1.9bn at Sotheby's. What it means for a consignor. A 90% sell-through rate is genuinely encouraging, but it is an average across a market that is behaving very unevenly. The recovery has been concentrated in trophy lots and fresh-to-market material. If your work is neither, the headline numbers overstate your position. Practically, three things follow: * Estimates are being set conservatively, and that is working. Resisting a flattering high estimate is usually the right call. An unsold lot is far more expensive than a low estimate. * This is a good moment to negotiate terms. Houses competing for material will move on seller's commission, and often on unsold and marketing fees. Ours typically range from 2.5% to 10%, and once reduced seller rates are negotiated on your behalf the overall cost is usually the same or lower than going direct. * Timing and location still matter more than the headline. The same work can perform very differently across London, New York and a regional sale depending on who is buying that category this season. If you are weighing a sale, Whitebank Fine Art will model the options across houses - including settlement periods and all associated fees - before anything is committed. Auction market · Contemporary & Post War · Selling

RansomHub threatens leak of 500,000 Christie's records as auction house confirms network intrusion. RansomHub has listed Christie's on its dark web portal, claiming theft of sensitive data for half a million global clients. The auction house admits to a breach but denies financial data loss. Executive takeaway - TL;DR. * Category: - Threat Intelligence * Severity: - Critical * Actor Type: - Ransomware Group * Geography: - Global * Confidence: - High Confidence * CVE: - CVE-2024-24919 * Source: - Mandiant Advantage * Read Time: - 5 min Executive summary. In a significant escalation of cyber-extortion activities within the luxury art sector, the RansomHub cybercriminal syndicate has issued a final ultimatum to Christie's auction house. Following a disruptive 'technology security incident' in mid-May that coincided with major spring auctions in New York, RansomHub has officially added Christie's to its extortion portal. The group asserts it has exfiltrated sensitive personal information belonging to approximately 500,000 high-net-worth clients from around the globe. While Christie's leadership has acknowledged unauthorized access to specific segments of their network, they maintain that there is currently no evidence that financial or transactional records were compromised. This incident underscores the shifting focus of Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) groups toward high-value targets where privacy is a premium commodity. Threat analysis. RansomHub is a sophisticated, relatively new player in the RaaS landscape, first appearing in early 2024. The group has quickly established a reputation for aggressive double-extortion tactics, which involve both the encryption of local systems and the exfiltration of data to a public leak site. Their targeting of Christie's represents a tactical shift toward 'data-only' extortion in scenarios where system encryption might be successfully mitigated by backups, but the threat of public exposure remains a potent lever. By targeting an institution that manages the identities of the world's most affluent individuals, RansomHub is leveraging reputational damage and potential regulatory penalties under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to compel payment. Technical details. Intelligence gathered from recent incident response engagements suggests that RansomHub affiliates often gain initial access through a combination of credential stuffing and the exploitation of edge-device vulnerabilities. Specifically, investigators are looking for links between this breach and recently disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities in remote access solutions, such as the Check Point VPN information disclosure flaw (CVE-2024-24919), which has been actively exploited by various ransomware affiliates for lateral movement and Active Directory harvesting. Once persistence was established within Christie's network, the actors moved laterally to identify and exfiltrate approximately 500 gigabytes of data. This dataset allegedly includes full names, birth dates, nationalities, and passport or identity document numbers. RansomHub has provided 'proof of life' for the data by publishing screenshots showing database schemas and specific client entries. The group has set a countdown timer on their leak site, threatening to release the full dataset by May 31 if their undisclosed ransom demands are not met. Attribution assessment. Cybersecurity researchers at Mandiant and Unit 42 assess with moderate to high confidence that RansomHub is either a rebranding of the Knight ransomware operation or a coalition of experienced affiliates formerly associated with the ALPHV/BlackCat and LockBit syndicates. The group's infrastructure and malware code show significant similarities to previous Russian-linked operations. RansomHub's business model is notably affiliate-friendly, offering a 90% commission to those who conduct the intrusions, which has allowed them to attract high-tier talent capable of breaching well-defended networks like those found in the global art market. Implications. The implications for Christie's and the broader art market are severe. For Christie's, the breach poses a dual threat of massive regulatory fines and a systemic loss of client trust. The exposure of high-net-worth individuals' data can lead to secondary attacks, including targeted phishing, physical security risks, and identity theft. Furthermore, the timing of the attack - during one of the most critical sales windows of the year - demonstrates that ransomware groups are increasingly timing their activities to maximize operational pressure and financial leverage. Recommendations. To defend against RansomHub and similar RaaS threats, organizations should implement the following measures: * Phishing-Resistant MFA: Deploy hardware-based multi-factor authentication across all external access points and administrative portals. * Vulnerability Management: Prioritize the immediate patching of edge devices, specifically focusing on VPN and firewall vulnerabilities used for initial access. * Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Implement aggressive DLP rules to monitor and block the unauthorized mass exfiltration of sensitive datasets to known cloud storage providers. * Credential Rotation: Enforce mandatory password resets and certificate rotations following the detection of any suspicious lateral movement within the network. * Legal & Regulatory Readiness: Ensure that incident response plans include specific protocols for notifying international privacy regulators (e.g., UK ICO, EU DPA) within the mandatory 72-hour window following a confirmed breach. 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Christie's ONE GOAL auction: World Cup 2026 memorabilia raises $652,630 for a global cause. The 2026 FIFA World Cup delivered drama on the pitch- Spain defeating Argentina 1-0 in the final at MetLife Stadium, and now fans can own a piece of that history while supporting a worthy cause. Christie's partnered with Global Citizen for the ONE GOAL: An Auction to Benefit the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, an online sale running July 22-29, 2026. The auction featured game-used balls, signed jerseys, and halftime show outfits from the tournament's star-studded performers. What Was on Offer? The sale highlighted authentic memorabilia from the expanded 48-team tournament across the United States, Canada, and Mexico: * Game-used balls: Including the official match ball from the final (Spain 1-Argentina 0), plus opening match balls from Mexico City (Estadio Azteca), Toronto, and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. * Signed jerseys: Pieces from Lionel Messi (an Argentina home jersey gifted to Shakira), Santiago Giménez, the U.S. Men's National Team, Casemiro (Brazil), and others like the Austrian national team. * Halftime Show treasures: Items from the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show on July 19, 2026, featuring Shakira, BTS, Madonna, Justin Bieber, Burna Boy, Coldplay (curated by Chris Martin), and more. Highlights included outfits and accessories worn by performers, plus signed Earth Balls. Jimin of BTS Halftime Shirt Steals the Spotlight at $110,000 In a dramatic tie for the top spot, a shirt worn by Jimin of BTS during the historic first-ever FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Halftime Show sold for $110,000 at Christie's ONE GOAL auction, tying with the official Final Match Ball (used in Spain's 1-0 victory over Argentina) as the highest-selling lot This standout lot not only matched the highest price in the sale but also shattered its low estimate by nearly 37 times, underscoring the massive global appeal of K-pop stardom intersecting with World Cup history. Auction Results at a Glance (July 22-29, 2026) Christie's online charity sale, ONE GOAL: An Auction to Benefit the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, concluded with strong results: * Total raised: $652,630 * Sell rate: 100% of 27 lots sold * Over low estimates: 810% * Bidders from 24 nations around the globe Top lots included a dramatic tie at the top: * FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Game-Used Ball (Spain 1-Argentina 0) - $110,000 * Shirt worn by Jimin of BTS during the halftime show - $110,000 (nearly 37x low estimate) Other highlights: * Lionel Messi signed Argentina jersey (given to Shakira) - $66,000 * Scarf worn by V of BTS - $46,200 * Various BTS items collectively contributed strongly, with music memorabilia proving highly competitive alongside football treasures. The Bigger Picture: Supporting Education and Sport All proceeds benefit the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a $100 million initiative to expand access to quality education and sports for children in under previliged communities worldwide. The fund supports grassroots organizations and inclusive learning programs - turning World Cup magic into lasting impact. Christie's President for the Americas, Julien Pradels, noted the global bidding frenzy mirrored the tournament's excitement: "This is a wonderful win for an important cause."