With The Art of Knowing, Luxury Group by Marriott International and Sotheby’s bring together short videos and encounters with specialists. The proposal should be judged by what it helps us understand about objects.
A watch can first be admired for its design, then examined for the qualities that make it rare. That shift from admiration to scrutiny offers a way into The Art of Knowing, a programme by Luxury Group by Marriott International and Sotheby’s. Marriott’s press release of 14 September 2026 announced its rollout in Asia-Pacific; Sotheby’s page provides access to the accompanying video series.
Detail as a starting point
The one-minute films were shot at St. Regis Hong Kong. Sotheby’s features Carl Chen on rarity in watchmaking, Vanessa Wat on the history of the Birkin, George Lacey on wine terroir and Jane Ki on light in diamonds. The tight format centres each contribution on a distinct question.
A minute can open a subject; it cannot teach someone to appraise an object. Its educational value depends on the precision of the chosen detail and the opportunity to investigate further. Naming a provenance, a technique or a criterion for observation gives viewers something to explore.
From screens to encounters
According to Marriott’s announced schedule, a meeting devoted to bags was due to open the programme at St. Regis Hong Kong on 14 September. A watchmaking session was scheduled at Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong on 2 October, followed by a meeting on wine at St. Regis Shenzhen Bao’an on 15 October. The announcement is not an account of the sessions themselves.
For hospitality, the interest of this format lies in making room for someone who can explain an object. The quality of that exchange will be measured in conversation: can participants ask a question, compare details and understand the limits of an appraisal? The prestige of the partners alone does not answer those questions.
The programme thus offers a cultural extension to a stay. Its ambition becomes persuasive if participants leave with ways of looking that they can use elsewhere, before another object, without needing the setting in which they first learned them.
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