Why is fine jewelry exploding at auction?

Why is haute joaillerie exploding at auction ? 

Since 2022, sales of haute joaillerie have reached historic records, with average growth estimated at +18% per year on the international auction market.

This phenomenon is due to a correlation between prestige and liquidity : historic houses such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chaumet and Boucheron generate on average auction rates in excess of 95%, compared with 80% for anonymous or unsigned pieces.

This is because the perceived value of a signed piece is based on cumulative symbolic capital, combining expertise, rarity and cultural legitimacy. For the analytical framework, we are witnessing a cross-approach between cultural economics (heritage valorization), luxury economics due to the Velben effect associated with the sociology of taste, which notably passes through status and heritage.

We are witnessing the emergence of an international clientele of investors, often from the financial or technological sector, who consider fine jewelry as an alternative asset with high aesthetic and heritage density.

Bidders are buying not just a piece of jewelry, but also a story, with the major players on the Place Vendôme increasingly attached to their storytelling.

For Cartier, we find a symbol of aristocratic modernity, with the invention of platinum jewellery, and the Belle Époque garland style. For Van Cleef & Arpels, there's a certain poetic and technical narrative with the Mystery Set, naturalist inspiration, tales and legends.

For Chaumet, it's more of an imperial and neoclassical anchoring (Josephine's supplier, tiara vocabulary as poetic language). Boucheron, on the other hand, combines formal audacity with gemmological mastery.

Each house thus places its creations in a stylistic chronology recognized by museum institutions (Metropolitan Museum, Musée des Arts Décoratifs), which also gives the pieces an objectified historical value.

Auction thus acts as a mechanism for re-actualizing prestige, transforming jewelry heritage into a speculative asset while maintaining a museum-like and affective dimension.

The issue is therefore to understand how the convergence between heritage narrative, gemological rarity and the financialization of taste explains the explosion in high jewelry prices on the auction market.

Structural dynamics and market data

Between 2020 and 2025, the jewelry and silverware segment in voluntary public sales grew by +42% in global value, while luxury retail was only +9% over the same period.

In recent years, we have witnessed a mutation of the sales channel : the dematerialization of auctions has broadened the buying base by more than 60% since 2019, encouraging the participation of new international collectors.

Coins signed between 1920 and 1970 (the golden age of jewellery modernism) show an average resale rate in excess of 1.8, confirming their capacity to increase in value over the medium term. The rarity of exceptional gems (colored diamonds, Kashmir sapphires, Burmese rubies) generates positive price elasticity, which contradicts the classic substitution model.

Scientific valuation is also important, with the presence of GIA, SSEF or Gübelin certificates increasing the final auction value by 15 to 30% depending on the quality of the stone and the precision of the gemological origin.

Museums and private foundations such as LVMH, the Cartier Foundation and the Al Thani Collection also contribute indirectly to the rise in prices through their cultural backing.

These data confirm that the current rise is not a passing speculative phenomenon, but a structural readjustment of the luxury market towards tangible, historic and certifiable assets.

Valuation mechanisms and the construction of symbolic value

Valuing a piece of fine jewelry involves an interplay between use value, exchange value and symbolic value. Material value is determined by the nature of the gems, their weight, purity and the quality of the precious metal.

Artistic value is derived from the design, signature and period of production (art deco, modernism, contemporary). Cultural value is based on provenance, the history of the piece and its institutional recognition.

The signature naturally has an important influence  a Van Cleef & Arpels or Cartier piece multiplies its estimated value by 2 to 3 on average. The signature effect acts as a coefficient of artistic legitimacy.

Provenance, as with paintings and other objects, is also a determining factor in valuation. The biographical traceability of a jewel (belonging to a dynasty, an actress or a royal collection) constitutes a qualitative heritage variable, difficult to substitute.

The comparative method also makes it possible to isolate rarity premiums according to previous sales, while integrating a hedonic component that reflects the object's social taste and desirability.

Exhibiting a piece in a museum institution such as MAD Paris, the Van Cleef & Arpels Museum or the MET creates an aura effect that reinforces the perception of uniqueness and cultural value.

High jewelry also partially escapes aesthetic obsolescence, and its valuation obeys a logic of cyclical updating, reactivated by sales and exhibitions.

The surge in prices is ultimately explained less by speculative drift than by the growing scientificity of valuation mechanisms, which rationalize desire into value and legitimize jewelry as a cultural asset.

The great houses and the construction of lasting symbolic capital

Since the late 19th century, the founding houses of Parisian haute joaillerie such as Cartier, Chaumet, Van Cleef & Arpels and Boucheron have built a model based on the transmission of know-how, the codification of taste and the patrimonialization of style.

These houses therefore constitute institutions of cultural capital, where the jewelry object functions as a vector of social distinction.

The explosion in prices and craze seen at auction is therefore not just the result of a cyclical craze, but of the institutionalization of prestige by these houses, transforming jewelry into a total objet d'art where value, history and identity merge.

Perspectives and reconfiguration of the global market

The Fine Jewellery auction market is now in a phase of structural maturation, which is characterized by steadily rising prices, increased professionalization of players and internationalization of capital flows.

Annual growth according to ArtTactic and Deloitte for the Fine Jewellery segment is estimated to average between +10 and +12% by 2027, underpinned by the rarity of historic pieces and Asian demand.

Paris is experiencing a resurgence in this phenomenon, driven by a logic of revaluing European heritage.

Among buyer profiles, we are witnessing the emergence of a hybrid collector, both investor and enlightened amateur, integrating jewelry into a diversified asset allocation strategy.

The digitization of auctions also favors transparency and traceability, two key variables in the economic rationalization of taste. Fine jewelry is becoming a symbol of permanence in a volatile world, and a tangible asset with a strong memorial and aesthetic dimension.

The explosion in prices and demand observed at auction is therefore not an ephemeral phenomenon but the consequence of a systemic realignment between culture, finance and aesthetics. Haute joaillerie is establishing itself as an asset of excellence, both a witness to civilization and an instrument of cultural capitalization.

Indicative bibliography

I. Theoretical and sociological works

• Bourdieu, Pierre. La Distinction: Critique sociale du jugement. Paris: Éditions de Minuit, 1979.

• Benjamin, Walter. L'Œuvre d'art à l'époque de sa reproductibilité technique. Paris: Gallimard, 1936.

• Baudrillard, Jean. Le Système des objets. Paris: Gallimard, 1968.

II. Economics of luxury and auctions

• Deloitte. Global Powers of Luxury Goods 2025. London: Deloitte Insights, 2025.

• UBS & Art Basel. The Art Market Report 2025. Basel: UBS Group AG, 2025.

• ArtTactic. Jewellery Market Outlook 2024-2025. London: ArtTactic Research, 2025.

III. History and theory of jewelry

• Cartier Collection. Cartier: Style and History. Paris : Éditions du Grand Palais, 2013.

• Van Cleef & Arpels Heritage. Reflets d'éternité. Paris : Flammarion, 2012.

• Boucheron. Boucheron : Joaillier du temps. Paris : Assouline, 2018.

• Snowman, A. Kenneth. The Master Jewellers. London: Thames & Hudson, 1990.

IV. Institutional sources and market relationships

• Christie's. Magnificent Jewels Sales Reports (2023-2025). Geneva, New York, Hong Kong.

• Sotheby's. Jewellery Market Review 2024-2025. Geneva: Sotheby's Research Department.

• Artcurial. Jewellery & Watchmaking Annual Report 2025. Paris : Artcurial Maison de Ventes.

• Conseil des Ventes Volontaires. Rapport du Marché français de l'art 2024. Paris: CVV, 2025.

• Fédération de la Haute Joaillerie. Annual economic study 2024. Paris: Comité Colbert, 2025.

V. Scientific studies and specialized articles

• Goetzmann, William N. "Accounting for Taste: Art and the Financial Markets." American Economic Review

• Candela, Guido, and Scorcu, Antonello. "Price Indices for Art Market Auctions: An Application to Jewellery." Journal of Cultural Economics

• Schmitt, Bernd. "Experiential Luxury: Reinterpreting the Value of Aesthetic Consumption." European Journal of Marketing