An automatic wristwatch in Patek Philippe 18K white-gold at a Christie's show in Dubai. [Photo/Agencies]

The global economic slowdown and "selective demand" are pushing Christie's to seek more realistic prices for their collections, directors of the auction house said on Sunday.

"This year, the market is not at the same level as it was one year or two years ago. We are facing a more challenging market," Guillaume Cerruti, Christie's president for Europe, the Middle East, Russia and India, tells journalists in Dubai.

"To face this situation, the key word for us is selectivity," he says, announcing two auctions this week in the glitzy Gulf emirate, one on modern and contemporary art and another showcasing Important Watches.

"We want to have sales that are well curated, sales with maybe fewer objects but of high quality at ... realistic estimates," he says.