Phillips Auction House
Building a checkout for six-figure timepieces
The Challenge
Phillips, one of the world’s leading auction houses for contemporary art and design, had a clear challenge: its luxury watch sales were still being handled manually, reliant on emails, phone calls, and offline tracking. The lack of visibility frustrated clients and left internal teams burdened with high-touch admin.
To modernise operations and meet the expectations of high-net-worth buyers, Phillips needed a digital transformation, starting with a new, direct-to-consumer experience for its watch business.
We designed and built a bespoke checkout experience that brought Phillips’ watch sales online for the first time.
Outcomes
The new system feels seamless, intuitive, and appropriately premium, delivering the clarity and care expected in the luxury space.
Launched just three months after kickoff, the new experience enabled direct online purchasing and replaced legacy, manual workflows with smart automation. It reduced operational overhead, improved client transparency, and freed up internal teams to focus on higher-value interactions.
We asked for a horse and cart, and you've dropped us in a Ferrari Enzo
James Marks
International Head of Perpetual, Director
This wasn’t just a UX win, it marked a major shift in how Phillips operates.
For the first time, they have the tooling and processes to build and scale digital services internally, unlocking new capabilities across the business.
Project Summary
We partnered closely with the Phillips watches team in an agile delivery model, combining weekly iterations, stakeholder reviews, and embedded collaboration. Beyond designing the interface, we helped reshape internal workflows and introduced modern product practices from the ground up.
In just 12 weeks, Phillips went from offline transactions to a luxury e-commerce experience, backed by systems that support speed, scale, and innovation.