Jing Daily’s Top Posts for the Week#
In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of May 30-June 3:
Asian 20th Century & Contemporary Auction At Christie’s HK Totals $62 Million
Over the weekend, Jing Daily kept a close eye on the Christie’s Hong Kong spring auctions, which continue through June 1. In addition to the much-reported Chateau Latour auction, which saw China’s emerging wine collectors snap up all 392 bottles for a grand total of HK$60 million (US$7.76 million), this weekend the art sales certainly gave many at Christie’s reason to be optimistic about Hong Kong’s relatively new, but already strong market.
At this weekend’s 20th Century and Contemporary Asian Art auction, Jing Daily’s pre-auction predictions were realized with the popularity of contemporary artist Zeng Fanzhi and modernist painters like Zao Wou-Ki, and the willingness of Chinese collectors to go far beyond pre-sale estimates for a particular piece.
Hermès Optimistic About Guangzhou Luxury Market
This past weekend, Hermès, which currently operates stores in 13 mainland Chinese cities, marked the grand opening of its newly expanded boutique at Guangzhou’s La Perle shopping mall. Located on the mall’s ground floor, the location now boasts 162 square meters of floor space designed by the architectural design firm RDAI and is divided into three sections: jewelry; perfumes and silk; and mens and womenswear. Decorated throughout with accents of cherry wood, and including overstuffed leather couches for weary shoppers, the revamped Hermès La Perle boutique is at once low-key and luxurious.
But is Guangzhou ready for it?
As Jing Daily wrote last month, following the not-so-grand opening of Gucci’s new Guangzhou boutique (which came after a seven-year absence from the city), not everyone is convinced that the top-tier city is a luxury hotspot on par with Shanghai (home of Hermès’ made-in-China sub-brand Shang Xia) or Beijing.
Will Luxury Art Exhibitions Face A Backlash In China?
Last week, Jing Daily profiled Louis Vuitton’s “Voyages” exhibition, which opened this weekend at the National Museum of China in Beijing and will run through August 30. Marking LV’s 20th anniversary in mainland China, “Voyages” is the second exhibition to be held by the National Museum since its grand re-opening in April. In addition to many rare pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage from the brand’s collection, the exhibition includes a new video installation by the Chinese contemporary artist Zhan Wang (展望).
Reflecting the importance of this exhibition to the French luxury giant, top Louis Vuitton executives were on hand for the launch of “Voyages” on May 29 in Beijing.
Porsche’s China-Only 10th Anniversary 911 Sells Out Before Official Debut
In celebration of its tenth year in the mainland China market, recently Porsche announced it would release a limited edition China-only commemorative 911 this June. As more details have emerged about this special edition 911, the Chinese-language media reports this week that it’s pointless for China’s deep-pocketed car buyers to dial up their local Porsche dealership, as all ten of the limited-edition cars have already sold out. According to Zhejiang Online, the 10th anniversary 911 — priced at 3.48 million yuan (US$538,000) — was tailor-made for the Chinese market, with variations made on the standard 911 Turbo S chassis.
Although it’s an impressive car under the hood, most of the China-focused alterations are unsurprisingly cosmetic, following the trend set by Bentley, BMW, Lexus and other carmakers that have produced special China editions. Features include special AlcAntara sports seats, carbon fiber trim and a new Sports Design steering wheel, but other touches like unique commemorative floormats and “China Tenth Anniversary” insignias hit the right balance of localization and flash so popular among Chinese luxury car buyers.
Is China’s Wine Market Poised For A Rosé Boom?
China’s wine market, long the domain of dry reds, is getting sweeter, more effervescent and–increasingly–pinker. At least that’s the contention of France’s Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Provence (CIVP), which spent the month of May promoting rosé in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. According to the CIVP, which represents wineries from the Provence region of southern France, rosé exports to China increased 523 percent between 2006-2010, with China importing nearly 15,000 liters of Provencal rosé wine (valued at over US$130,600) last year. While this pales in comparison to the 30 million liters of Bordeaux wines imported by China in 2010, it’s nothing to write off. As Jing Daily has previously noted, younger and female wine drinkers are increasingly becoming a force in the Chinese wine market, and as they’re less chained to red wine than their older, male counterparts. As such, producers of sweeter whites and sparkling wine have moved quickly to court these important demographics.