Editor’s Note
This article highlights a surprising surge in the high-end watch and jewelry market, as evidenced by recent record-breaking auction results in Geneva and London. The pieces mentioned—from a Mughal-era emerald to Napoleon’s diamond brooch—far exceeded their estimates, signaling robust demand in the luxury sector.
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By Milena Lazazzera
November 25, 2025
Last week in Geneva, Christie’s sold a 30.6-carat carved cabochon emerald, known as the Shah Jahan, for $830,000 — eightfold its estimate. London auction house Phillips sold Tiffany’s 42.7-carat Vanderbilt Kashmir sapphire for $3.6 million, threefold its estimate. And Sotheby’s broke records with the successful auction of Napoleon’s diamond brooch, which sold for $4.4 million, or about 29 times its estimate.
Luxury auctions are thriving. Christie’s reports luxury sales are up 29% year-on-year. Consolidated luxury sales at Sotheby’s have grown from $822 million in 2019 (accounting for 14% of total sales) to $2.2 billion last year (now 37% of total sales).
Auction houses are benefiting from an effort to bring in younger bidders, and they’re biting. Josh Pullan, head of global luxury at Sotheby’s, says that a third of its clients buying watches, handbags and spirits are under 40, an increase from previous years as the category performs well among young buyers. At Phillips, Gen Z and millennial clients have grown 56% in the last five years, says worldwide head of jewelry Benoît Repellin. According to figures released by Christie’s, in 2025 so far, 39% of female bidders and buyers have been millennials or Gen Zs, up from 32% in 2024. Among men, 32% were millennials or Gen Zs, compared with 28% the previous year.
Part of this growth is driven by more expansive merchandise, in terms of both category and price, making auction houses more approachable by expanding their physical and digital reach, and by investing in educational content and cultivated collector communities.
The luxury auction category has expanded to include sneakers, sport collectibles like Cristiano Ronaldo’s jerseys (sold by Sotheby’s in Saudi Arabia), wines and spirits, cars, couture pieces (for example, the archival Ralph & Russo that Bonhams will offer during Dubai Watch Week), and fashion accessories.
According to Mario Ortelli, managing director of Ortelli & Co., the strength of the luxury category at auction is also tied to the sustained cultural investment of brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bvlgari. Through their museum exhibitions, these brands have elevated their pieces to ‘art’ status, which is then transferred to those hitting the block.
This view is echoed by independent luxury consultant Susanna Nicoletti, who notes that amid sharp price increases for new luxury goods, consumers have become more discerning — paying closer attention to craftsmanship, heritage and long-term value.
Bernstein luxury goods analyst Luca Solca also sees broader market dynamics at play.
A wide range of price points has also helped to entice younger customers. Jonathan Darracott, Bonhams’s global head of watches, says that the auction house has kept expanding “the range of entry-level price points”, which attracted a younger cohort of bidders more comfortable in buying online. On Sotheby’s buy-now marketplace, launched at the height of the pandemic, a collectable T-shirt by Bella Freud starts at $135 and an Hermès costume bracelet at $420.
Such prices put these centuries-old institutions in direct competition with traditional retailers, but unlike the latter, auction houses have proven far more flexible with payments, even accepting cryptocurrency. Sotheby’s, for instance, held its first international auction in Saudi Arabia in February 2025, accepting Bitcoin and Ether for the entire sale. Building on that momentum, Sotheby’s is launching its inaugural Luxury Week in Abu Dhabi, timed to coincide not only with the Formula One Grand Prix, but also with Abu Dhabi Finance Week and Bitcoin MENA (Middle East and North Africa).