Go inside the world of watchmaking with the world's leading watch auction house, Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo. Each episode of The Phillips Watches Podcast features candid conversations with the makers, collectors, and visionaries behind the world's most important watches.
– Hosted by Logan Baker
In the latest episode of the Phillips Watches Podcast, host Logan Baker sits down in Geneva with the firm’s senior watch leadership for a candid conversation about where the industry stands today and where it may be headed in 2026.
Recorded while the team was gathered in Geneva at the start of the year, the episode brings together Aurel Bacs, Alexandre Ghotbi, Thomas Perazzi, and Paul Boutros. The discussion follows a record-setting 10th anniversary year for Phillips Watches, one that unfolded against a far more cautious backdrop for the broader luxury and watch markets. Rather than focusing on individual results, the conversation steps back to examine collector behavior, regional dynamics, independent watchmaking, and the responsibilities that come with shaping a global market.
Reflections on an Unexpected Year
The episode opens with a look back at 2025, a year that exceeded even internal expectations.
While Phillips achieved the strongest results in its 10-year history, the panel is quick to stress that such outcomes are never planned in isolation. Auction houses, as Bacs notes, are sailors rather than weather makers. Global economics, geopolitics, interest rates, and shifting sentiment all shape when collectors choose to part with their most important watches.
What emerges is a shared view that the success of 2025 was not a single-year phenomenon, but the result of decades of trust built with collectors, watchmakers, and institutions around the world. The discussion underscores the idea that reputation in watch collecting is cumulative, earned over long careers rather than short cycles.
Regional Markets in Motion
A central theme of the episode is how different regions are evolving at different speeds.
Boutros reflects on the resilience of American collectors, who continued to bid strongly at the highest levels despite uncertainty surrounding tariffs and cross-border costs. Perazzi describes a renewed energy in Asia following several transitional years, with participation broadening beyond traditional hubs and into new collecting communities. Ghotbi highlights Europe’s continued strength as a mature market while pointing to the Middle East as one of the fastest-growing regions, driven by a younger generation of highly informed collectors.
Across regions, the panel agrees that watch collecting has become more global, more diverse, and more mainstream than ever before.
Leadership Responsibility
As the watch-auction market leader by auction value, Phillips occupies a visible and influential position.
Bacs speaks openly about the responsibilities that come with that role, emphasizing the importance of setting thoughtful estimates, conducting thorough research, and acting as a long-term partner to both consignors and buyers.
The conversation makes clear that record prices alone are not the goal. Sustainable collecting depends on confidence, fairness, and the sense that a watch purchased today will still feel meaningful years down the line. This philosophy informs everything from business-getting strategy to catalogue production and client advice.
Education and Scholarship
One of the most revealing sections of the episode centers on education.
The group discusses Phillips’ renewed focus on categories such as pocket watches, clocks, and historically significant timepieces that sit outside the mainstream wristwatch-collecting narrative. These objects, often overlooked in recent years, are framed as essential to understanding the full history of watchmaking.
Auction houses remain among the most democratic and accessible tools for learning, offering public previews, open access, and rigorous research without the pressure to buy.
Independent Watchmaking
The episode also addresses the current state of independent watchmaking, acknowledging both its creative vitality and the risk of oversaturation.
The panel distinguishes between truly artisanal production and more commercially driven interpretations, while agreeing that independent watchmaking has become a permanent and essential part of the collecting landscape. Rather than predicting winners and losers, the discussion emphasizes discernment, patience, and the collectors' role in shaping what endures.
For collectors at any stage in their watch journey, the conversation offers insight into how the world’s leading watch auction house thinks about stewardship, trust, and the future of the market.
Episode 4 of The Phillips Watches Podcast is now available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.