The Swiss luxury goods and private equity veteran Chabi Nouri has been named the next global chief executive of the auction house Bonhams, beginning in October. Nouri, who will be based in London, succeeds Bruno Vinciguerra, who was Bonhams’s chief executive from 2018 until February 2024; no reason was given at the time for his departure.
Nouri joins Bonhams with a wealth of experience in the luxury goods and retail sector. She served as the chief executive of the Richemont-owned watch and jewellery brand Piaget from 2015 until 2022, at which point she became a private equity partner at the Mirabaud Group, a Swiss private bank. Nouri worked at the French luxury goods conglomerate Cartier for almost a decade prior to her time leading Piaget.
She will be oversee all regions and all areas of Bonhams business, according to an auction house spokesperson. Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard will revert to his previous role of non-executive chair, having been appointed interim executive chairman upon Vinciguerra’s departure.
Nouri’s appointment comes as auction houses long associated with the trade of fine art and antiques continue expanding their offerings into the categories of collectible luxury goods, including watches, sneakers, handbags and fine wine and spirits. The sale of such inventory is meant to attract new demographics of clients and increase auctioneers’ profit margins.
Asked whether Nouri’s appointment will spur Bonhams to bolster this growing area of the business sector, a spokesperson says: “Nouri has enormous experience in the luxury field and will doubtlessly explore this area when she arrives in post in October.”
As to whether she will continue the strategy spearheaded by her predecessor of acquiring midsized regional auction houses, such as Brun Rasmussen in Copenhagen and Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris, the spokesperson says that “Bonhams is always looking at opportunities”. The company presently encompasses 14 salerooms around the world, four of which were bought in 2022.
Bonhams is owned by the private equity firm Epiris, which acquired the auction house outright in 2018. Last year, reports surfaced that Epiris was floating a sale of Bonhams for $1bn, though no further evidence of such a deal has emerged since.
