Luxury Auctions Surged Last Year, With Jewelry, Ferrari and Hermès Driving Record Results
End-of-year results from the major auction houses confirmed that the luxury segment is becoming vital to expanding secondary market volume across age groups and price tiers, particularly in rising geographies. After generating over $1 billion in global sales (excluding private sales) in 2025, Christie’s luxury segment released a dedicated report outlining key trends shaping the broader luxury market, along with an outlook for what lies ahead at this intersection of the auction business and industry trends.
With a 90 percent sell-through rate and 129 percent of lots hammering above their low estimates, luxury was not only the company’s most dynamic segment but also the most effective at attracting new and younger buyers. “Luxury has become one of Christie’s most important drivers of strategic and sustainable growth in the post-COVID years, consistently acting as a key entry point for new client engagement,” Kimberly Miller, global managing director of Luxury, said Forty-one percent of all new bidders and buyers entered Christie’s through luxury auctions, and 44 percent of participants in 2025 were Millennials and Gen Z. This likely reflects both age and price accessibility; these cohorts are also more flexible and casual in their purchasing behavior, with 85 percent of bids placed online. Categories such as jewelry, watches, wine and handbags benefit from broad cultural familiarity and span a wide range of price points, making them appealing for first-time bidders and buyers, Miller also confirmed. “For many, a bid on a bottle of wine or a special piece of jewelry provides an approachable introduction to the world of auction, drawing clients into Christie’s ecosystem where they often progress to other categories,” she noted. “Luxury also performs well across live or online channels, public auction or private transactions, and therefore appeals to a wide range of age and cultural markets.”
Notably, likely linked to the rapid growth of women’s wealth, generational transfer, demographic shifts and rising financial agency among female investors and entrepreneurs, participation by women is also steadily increasing across luxury categories. The number of female buyers grew 10 percent year over year, while total spending from female clients rose 20 percent year over year across all regions.
According to Miller, as Christie’s addresses growing collector markets in APAC and the Middle East, luxury allows the auction house to meet clients wherever they are in their collecting journey, while maintaining the scholarship and connoisseurship that defines the auction house’s brand identity.
Colored gems, pearls and vintage nostalgia
Jewelry dominated the luxury market in 2025, delivering a record year for Christie’s. Its June Magnificent Jewels auction achieved $87.7 million—the highest total for a single jewelry auction in the United States—headlined by the historic Marie-Thérèse pink 10.38-carat kite-shaped diamond, linked to Queen Marie Antoinette and newly mounted by JAR, which sold for $14 million. This was followed by the record-breaking CHF 20.5 million ($25.6 million) Mellon Blue, sold in Geneva in November, the most expensive jewel sold at international auction in 2025.
“Jewelry continues to be one of the most powerful engines of growth within Christie’s Luxury ecosystem,” Max Fawcett, Christie’s global head of Jewelry, said, noting how the category, and the broader luxury segment, is reshaping the way new audiences enter the auction world. “There’s strong growth among female collectors and rising participation across Asia and the Middle East. These clients are digitally engaged, globally minded, and driven by provenance, rarity and craftsmanship,” he added.
Although diamonds have always been a girl’s best friend, Christie’s identified a remarkable surge in demand for colored gemstones: emeralds, rubies and sapphires remain category pillars, but 2025 saw record-setting interest in other stones, most notably Paraiba tourmalines, which are expected to continue outperforming in 2026 due to limited supply and sustained global demand. By contrast, the white diamond market appears to be stabilizing, with prices leveling and no significant upward movement in demand or valuation.
Pearls are growing in popularity across age groups, with prices rising for necklaces, single pearls and earrings. Once driven primarily by collectors in the Middle East and India, pearl demand is now broad-based internationally and is expected to remain strong in 2026, supported by retail visibility and alignment with fashion trends. External data supports Christie’s projections: according to Zion Market Research, the global pearl jewelry market will grow from approximately $13.53 billion in 2024 to $48.14 billion by 2034, representing a compound annual growth rate of roughly 13.53 percent between 2025 and 2034. Prices for high-grade Akoya and South Sea pearls have increased sharply, in some cases by nearly 50 percent, in recent years, as demand has outpaced production. Natural pearls remain extremely rare and highly valued, their scarcity historically underpinning their value—and when they appear at auction, they can far exceed estimates.
Today’s nostalgia-driven secondary market is also fueling a lively appetite for vintage jewelry from the 1960s-1980s, particularly pieces by heritage houses such as Cartier, Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels. Clients are gravitating toward bold, wearable designs from these decades, with yellow gold and vibrant colored stones leading demand. Provenance remains critical in the jewelry market: single-owner collections and jewels with notable histories continue to outperform, and curation and storytelling that elevate those histories have become central strategies. Tightly edited sales that emphasize provenance, rarity and distinctive design narratives allow auction houses to amplify the symbolic aura and emotional resonance of these objects beyond their material value.
Regionally, demand from the East remains a key driver of activity. Christie’s reports increased spending from clients in the Middle East, particularly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with growing engagement from the Indian diaspora and broader spending expansion across the Asia Pacific region. “As we look to 2026, jewelry will remain central to Christie’s strategy not only as a category of exceptional objects but also as a gateway that attracts the next generation of collectors and anchors our expansion into fast‑growing regional markets,” confirmed Fawcett.
In the watch market, independent makers and top-brand icons
In 2025, Christie’s private sales in luxury watches exceeded $10 million. As the market continues to expand and mature following the more speculative boom of 2022, high-value masterworks are increasingly trading discreetly between collectors who favor tailored, confidential transactions. There was exceptional demand for vintage masterpieces and independent watchmakers, while collectors continued to pursue rare timepieces from Patek Philippe, Rolex, Breguet, Cartier, F.P. Journe, Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille.
In December, at Christie’s Important Watches auction in New York, rare Patek Philippe timepieces—including the $660,400 Serpico Y Laino Black Enamel Calatrava Ref. and the $520,700 “The Scout” 18k gold Lepine-style watch—sold for well above estimate, helping the sale reach $9.3 million with 96 percent sold by lot. In the same auction, a rare vintage Cartier cushion-shaped gold wristwatch with Deco-style Arabic numerals sold for $76,200 over a low estimate of $8,000. The top lot, however, was a more niche horological masterpiece: the Charles Frodsham Silver Grande & Petite Sonnerie Hump-Back Tourbillon Carriage Clock from the Edlis | Neeson Collection, which achieved $952,500, nearly five times its low estimate.
Christie’s achieved total global auction sales of $162.5 million for watches in 2025, with 81 percent of lots selling within or above estimate. Sotheby's also recorded its best year ever in the category, with $193.6 million in watch sales for 2025, up 22 percent from 2024. December’s Important Watches sale at the Breuer in New York closed white glove at $42.8 million, anchored by Audemars Piguet’s “Grosse Pièce” No. 16869, which fetched $7.7 million, more than doubling its high pre-sale estimate and setting a new auction record for the brand. Even so, these totals were eclipsed by Phillips, which achieved $83 million in November at its Watches: Decade One (2015-2025) sale in Geneva, setting the record for any single-owner watch auction. Phillips, which holds an estimated 45 percent share of the global watch auction market, surpassed its own annual record in 2025, reaching $290 million in auction sales, up from a previous peak of $227 million in 2022, plus an additional $80 million from private sales and its Phillips Perpetual boutique.
Looking ahead to 2026, Christie’s specialists expect F.P. Journe to remain a standout performer, with sustained demand across key models. Vintage Patek Philippe and Rolex masterpieces are also projected to achieve further record prices, driven by continued interest from new collectors, with the U.S. and the Middle East remaining dominant markets. Concurrently, the neo-vintage segment (1990s-early 2000s) is set to expand further as an accessible entry point for younger collectors seeking authentic design or nostalgic appeal at more attainable price levels. According to Chrono24, the neo-vintage market is already 2.5 times larger than the vintage segment. Dealers report that demand for clean examples of Rolex, Omega and Cartier neo-vintage models frequently outpaces supply, while early independent watches from this period, including early F.P. Journe pieces, have shown notable appreciation and strong auction performance.
Historical provenance and mature Bordeaux
If the broader liquor and wine industry is facing something of a crisis as younger generations drink less, the secondary market for vintage wines continues to thrive, particularly as younger Asian buyers enter the category with curiosity and a desire to explore beyond top labels. This demand from Gen Z and Millennial buyers, particularly in Asia and Greater China, is expected to continue growing in 2026.
In 2025, Christie’s success in the wine segment was underpinned by provenance, with collectors placing a premium on well-documented bottles and single-owner collections that underscore history and rarity. A prime example was the white-glove $28.8 million The Cellar of William I. Koch sale, which in June set a new record for the highest price achieved by a single-owner wine collection sold in North America, headlined by a $275,000 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti methuselah and a lot of three magnums of the same wine fetching $237,500—more than double its high estimate. The renewed demand for mature Bordeaux and rare vintages was confirmed again in December, with the Historic Cellar of Jürgen Schwarz totaling $4,248,000 across over 800 lots, selling 98 percent by lot and 116 percent by low estimate. The top lot was 12 bottles of Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée, Cros Parantoux 1999, which realized $175,000, followed by $81,250 for six magnums of Château Lafleur 1982, $62,500 for five bottles of Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée, Les Beaux Monts 1978 and $52,500 for a single bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild 1868.
From Hermès to Chanel, scarcity drives value
2025 was the year the art market fully recognized that a Hermès bag could reach or even surpass the seven-digit values of modern and contemporary masterpieces, as a Hermès Birkin bag custom-made for Jane Birkin in 1984 sold for a record-breaking $10.1 million (€8.6 million) at a Sotheby’s Paris auction in July. That said, while the Birkin remains for many the Holy Grail of handbags, it is the most exclusive and elusive Faubourg Birkin variations—particularly the “Snow” and “Rainy Days” editions—that are achieving the highest prices. The Rainy Days Faubourg Birkin 20 with Permabrass hardware sold for $215,900 as the top lot of Christie’s $3.6 million Handbags Online – The New York Edit auction in September 2025, where a Rare Nuit Faubourg Birkin 20 also realized $165,100 as part of a broader group of collectible Hermès offerings. Demand is also surging for smaller, more versatile clutches from the Maison, including the Hermès Kelly Pochette. In the same sale, a Sterling Silver Mini Kelly (circa 1990s) fetched $127,000 while a Matte Vert Peppermint Alligator Mini Kelly 20 II sold for $88,900.
Renewed interest in Jean Paul Gaultier-era Hermès has signaled a growing appreciation for historically significant design periods, with collectors valuing distinctive silhouettes tied to the house’s evolution. Christie’s expects continued momentum for custom exotic Kelly Dolls’ Quelle Idole in 2026, as well as for the Kelly Cut clutch, the JPG Shoulder Birkin and the new Shoulder Birkin Light. With Chanel, rare runway pieces—especially Karl Lagerfeld-era lucite minaudières and limited catwalk editions—are increasingly triggering competitive bidding, as demonstrated by the record-breaking Chanel Rare Runway Silver & Black Lambskin Leather Shopping Basket Bag from 2014, which fetched $152,400—more than 10 times its low estimate of $15,000—also in September. And early Louis Vuitton trunks are still in demand as both status symbols and foundational objects in the luxury collectibles landscape. Rarity will become an increasingly important differentiator in 2026, with horizon Feather Pochettes, Diamond Kelly Midas bags and other ultra-rare pieces continuing to attract top collectors seeking true uniqueness.
In the auto market, Ferrari’s golden era shines
The automobile segment, through Gooding—Christie’s parent company—also expanded significantly in 2025, rising 14 percent to $234 million in total revenue and contributing meaningfully to the overall strength of the luxury category. True blue-chip provenance remained the ultimate driver of value, particularly when paired with exceptional condition. Here as well, single-owner collections proved to be among the most reliable catalysts for market-beating performance. The Stan Lucas Collection led the year for Gooding, achieving $33.9 million with 100 percent sell-through, setting six world records and seeing 75 percent of lots meet or exceed estimates. Nine cars sold for more than $1 million, with world auction records established for Oldsmobile, Doble, Mercer, Stevens-Duryea, Stutz and Crane-Simplex. Critical to the sale’s success was its no-reserve structure, which amplified bidding momentum by lowering barriers to entry and intensifying competition, frequently pushing results beyond pre-sale expectations.
McLaren-F1_1399379_Abu-Dhabi-Collectors-Week.jpg?quality=80&w=970" alt="A white racecar with a large spoiler" width="970" height="647" data-caption='At Sotheby’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Collectors Week in November, a 1994 McLaren F1 sold for $25,317,500. <span class="lazyload media-credit">Courtesy Sotheby's RM</span>'>At Gooding & Company’s auctions, the strongest-performing cars of the year overwhelmingly came from Ferrari’s golden era, whose enduring iconicity continues to attract collectors who prioritize rarity, competition pedigree and documented history above all else. Among the top results were the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Competizione at $25.3 million, the 1955 Ferrari 375 MM Berlinetta at $9.46 million and the 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Prototipo at $7.26 million. A 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France realized $4.85 million, reinforcing the enduring supremacy of the 1950s-early 1960s Ferrari lineage as the cornerstone of the collector car market.
The 1980s-1990s supercar generation has fully matured into a dominant force in demand, particularly among Gen X and early Millennial buyers. A 1989 RUF CTR “Yellowbird” sold for $6.05 million, a world record for the model. A 1990 Ferrari F40 sold for $3.8 million while a 1997 RUF CTR2 sold for $2.6 million, both setting new benchmarks. These results underscore the sharp upward revaluation of limited-production performance icons from the analog era. That said, brass-era and early motor cars also delivered some of the year’s most surprising results. A 1911 Oldsmobile Limited achieved $5.06 million, setting a world record, while an 1898 Panhard-Levassor realized $1.4 million, also a world record.
Ferrari’s dominance was equally visible at Sotheby’s RM, where both vintage and contemporary models broke records. The 2025 Ferrari Daytona SP3 “Tailor Made” sold for $26 million at the 2025 Monterey Motor Week auctions in California, becoming the most expensive car of the week and setting a new benchmark for contemporary Ferraris. A few months later, at Sotheby’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Collectors Week in November 2025, a 1994 McLaren F1 sold for $25,317,500 while a 1990 Ferrari F40 brought $3.886 million against a high estimate of $3.7 million. Strategically timed to coincide with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the sale totaled $84.7 million, establishing a new high-
Looking ahead to 2026, momentum appears strongest for modern exotics, contemporary hypercars and 1980s-1990s supercars, particularly rare, low-production examples with clear documentation. No-reserve estate sales, rediscovered barn finds and tightly curated private collections are also expected to deliver outsized returns, as long-unseen vehicles entering the market create compelling opportunities for collectors seeking singularity in an increasingly global and sophisticated marketplace.
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