Wealthy consumers are turning to jewelry as an investment, especially colored gemstones

When the gavel got here down in December, Christie’s had set a report that created a buzz within the public sale world.

A Tiffany & Co. necklace adorned with a glowing blue Paraiba tourmaline gem and diamonds offered for greater than $4.2 million, 10 occasions its low estimate. An identical pair of earrings hit the block subsequent, and it too offered for 10 occasions its estimate.

“I feel that was actually a marker for a way far personal purchasers are keen to go for these distinctive items,” mentioned Jacqueline DiSante, vice chairman and head of gross sales of Christie’s New York jewellery division.

Amid financial and geopolitical uncertainty, a sure class of shoppers are turning towards an unlikely asset class — jewellery. The development comes as buyers more and more flock to tangible property. For ultrarich shoppers, coloured gem stones akin to rubies, sapphires and emeralds are particularly fashionable proper now.

“At any time when you might have macroeconomic volatility … the attraction of exhausting asset investing goes up,” mentioned Thorne Perkin, president of funding administration agency Papamarkou Wellner Perkin. “Tangible property, they have a tendency to retain their worth and even improve when inflation rises.”

Mario Ortelli, a managing companion at strategic and M&A advisor Ortelli&Co., agreed with Perkin’s take, saying that there was clearly a “defensive factor” to the development.

“In intervals of inflation, geopolitical stress, or monetary market volatility, tangible property change into extra enticing,” he mentioned in an electronic mail. “Branded jewellery can perform as a conveyable retailer of worth.”

“In contrast to vogue equipment which might be tied to seasonal cycles, iconic jewellery collections have a for much longer product life cycle,” he added. “In lots of instances, additionally they display stronger resale worth dynamics than purses. That longevity and perceived capital preservation assist clarify jewellery’s relative resilience versus gentle luxurious.”

Luca Solca, international head of luxurious items at Bernstein, estimated that roughly one-third of the renewed curiosity in gold-heavy and gemstone-driven jewellery may very well be tied to “flight to security” conduct for buyers.

Robust resale worth

Surging gold costs have performed a task. Lengthy thought-about a safe-haven asset, gold in January soared to its highest value ever, above $5,100 an oz.. Though costs have pulled again since, it nonetheless trades at a lofty degree, above $4,500 an oz..

“I feel the view of bijou — gold jewellery, diamond and gemstone jewellery — being considered as an funding is enhanced by, clearly, the just about day by day improve within the gold value,” mentioned Andrew Brown, founder and CEO of luxurious resale platform MyGemma.

DiSante, of Christie’s, mentioned report excessive gold costs have incentivized some collectors to come back out of the woodwork and promote sure items.

Jewellery’s sturdiness within the resale market is a part of its attraction, consultants say. Brown mentioned he often sees purchasers reselling branded jewellery years after their authentic buy, usually at costs that maintain up much better than designer purses, which present put on from use a lot simpler.

Jewellery has managed to buck softness within the luxurious market and has been rising “fairly properly” over the previous two years, in keeping with Caroline Reyl, senior funding supervisor of Pictet’s premium manufacturers technique.

Reyl mentioned she has seen shoppers shifting away from “gentle luxurious” objects akin to purses and equipment. On the similar time, “exhausting luxurious” items akin to watches and high-quality jewellery have grown in reputation. Reyl attributed the change to excessive value hikes for purses resulting from beforehand sturdy demand and provide chain disruption.

High quality considerations have additionally been a headwind, Brown mentioned.

A Bernstein examine discovered public sale costs for Hermès’ iconic purses have fallen, and common resale premiums for Birkin and Kelly baggage slipped from 2.2 occasions in 2022 to 1.4 occasions final November.

“Leather-based doesn’t have loads of inherent worth,” mentioned Ankur Daga, founder and CEO of high-quality jewellery e-commerce firm Angara. “As gold is appreciating, individuals are understanding increasingly that it is a very invaluable asset.”

Sturdiness has helped reinforce jewellery’s fame as a long-term retailer of worth, particularly items from well-known manufacturers akin to Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany & Co., and Bulgari. Brown estimated that these 4 manufacturers made up round 90% of MyGemma’s jewellery gross sales.

A ‘ardour funding’

There’s additionally an emotional factor to jewellery. Perkin known as it a “ardour funding,” with shoppers probably drawn in by an “factor of status.”

Ortelli agreed. He mentioned the model fairness, craftsmanship and shortage factor reinforce the notion of sturdiness and worth retention.

“Branded jewellery has traditionally skilled mid- to high-single-digit annual value will increase over the long run, relying on model and the design,” Ortelli mentioned. “As resale usually happens at a reasonable low cost to present retail pricing, over a 5-10 yr horizon, house owners can often exit above their authentic buy value.”

‘Coloration is en vogue’

Gold-heavy jewellery advantages from a value ground created by the intrinsic worth of the metallic, Ortelli mentioned. “Nonetheless, distinctive gem stones — particularly uncommon, high-quality sapphires, rubies, or emeralds — can command vital collector premiums,” he mentioned.

Vogue traits at present favor coloured gem stones, which have emerged as one of many fastest-growing jewellery segments.

Lucrezia Buccellati, jewellery designer and co-creative director of Italian jewellery home Buccellati, mentioned that is significantly true in Asian markets. Coloured stones permit for extra artistic designs and infrequently attraction to consumers who need extra distinctive and private items, she defined.

Customers additionally could also be looking for options to diamonds.

There’s a “real dearth of gem-quality materials that is popping out of the earth,” Angara’s Daga mentioned. He defined it’s harder to copy coloured gems in a lab. In contrast to diamonds, the stone’s inclusions — or the minerals trapped inside throughout formation — present character and improve the worth of a coloured gemstone.

“No two are precisely alike, and I feel that is what makes them so attention-grabbing to at this time’s market,” DiSante mentioned, evaluating every one to a chunk of artwork. “In a world the place we’re seeing lab-grown diamonds being made, and it sort of feels like this conveyor belt … you’ll be able to’t try this with a sapphire or ruby or emerald.”

Daga mentioned he expects coloured gem stones will recognize sooner than gold.

“If you happen to have a look at Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctions, these gem stones are buying and selling at numbers no person would have thought potential 5 years in the past, and it is solely going to extend,” he mentioned. “Coloration is en vogue.”

Coloured gem stones have traded at two to a few occasions the excessive estimates at public sale homes, which is “very uncommon” on condition that public sale homes normally calibrate high and low bids comparatively nicely, Daga mentioned.

As proof of the development’s power, Daga estimated that round 15% of engagement rings at this time characteristic a coloured gemstone, up from 5% a decade in the past. They’ve maybe been additional popularized because of celebrities akin to Kate Middleton, Eva Longoria, Halle Berry, Rita Ora and Halsey.

The development has additionally introduced in youthful shoppers. In 2025, millennials and Gen Z accounted for 44% of Christie’s luxurious consumers, DiSante mentioned.

If macro uncertainty persists, consultants akin to Reyl mentioned they anticipate jewellery investing to proceed. Buccellati concurred, saying inside excessive luxurious, she expects jewellery to proceed rising and surpassing gentle luxurious items.

There are specific challenges, nonetheless, together with illiquidity, security considerations and storage prices. And in contrast to shares or actual property, jewellery doesn’t present its house owners with an earnings.

“Jewellery shouldn’t be considered as a monetary asset equal to equities or ETFs — liquidity, transaction prices, and dispersion of returns are a lot larger,” Ortelli mentioned.

He added that the long-term outlook for branded luxurious jewellery is constructive, however cyclical.

“The class performs greatest in supportive macroeconomic environments with rising wealth creation and political stability. … Within the occasion of a extreme macroeconomic downturn, demand would contract,” he wrote.

And that’s the place some collectors might discover consolation within the extra emotional elements of bijou.

“I feel there’s one thing actually romantic a few coloured stone,” DiSante mentioned. “There’s one thing actually unimaginable about whenever you suppose that it fashioned within the Earth a whole lot of 1000’s of years in the past. And if it is a Kashmir sapphire — that mine was solely mined for 20 years within the early 1900s — there is a sure romanticism behind it you can’t replicate.”

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