Auction houses reported strong sales of jewellery, gemstones and diamonds in 2025, highlighting sustained market appetite for luxury purchases. 

Worldwide jewellery sales at Sotheby’s reached US$317.7 million, up 18 per cent from last year while average lot value for jewellery rose 42 per cent to US$98,000. Sales also consistently attracted new collectors, who comprised 22 per cent of buyers in Sotheby's jewellery auctions last year.

Among its top sellers are The Mediterranean Blue, an exceptional fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 10.03 carats, which sold for CHF17.9 million (around US$21.5 million) in Sotheby’s May sale of High Jewelry in Geneva.

This was followed by The Desert Rose, the largest fancy vivid orangey-pink diamond in the world at 31.68 carats, which fetched US$8.8 million at Sotheby’s inaugural Collectors’ Week in Abu Dhabi in December and a 4.5-carat fancy vivid blue diamond that achieved US$6 million in Geneva in November.

“This has been an exceptionally strong year for the jewellery market, marked by multiple ‘white glove’ sales and expansion into new markets. These results reflect a growing global appetite for rare, exceptional jewels and impeccable diamonds, as well as a quest for quality among collectors, who continue to seek out the very best the world has to offer,” remarked Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby’s Jewels, Americas & EMEA.

The Mediterranean Blue diamond
 

Over at Christie's, global sales are projected to reach US$6.2 billion in 2025, with auction sales contributing US$4.7 billion – an increase of US$206 million from 2024.

Jewellery remains a major category, with the Mellon Blue, an exceptional fancy vivid IF blue diamond weighing 9.51 carats, achieving CHF20.52 (around US$25.6 million) at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva.

This blue diamond has become the highest jewellery lot sold at auction in 2025, while the selling price is the third highest for any vivid blue diamond sold at Christie’s.

Another top-performing lot was The Royal Blue necklace adorned with 16 cushion-cut Kashmir “Royal Blue” sapphires totalling 104.61 carats, which sold for US$16.19 million, breaking the world auction record for a Kashmir sapphire necklace.

Meanwhile, the Marie-Thérèse pink diamond, a 10.38-carat kite-shaped fancy purple-pink diamond by JAR, fetched US$14 million at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in New York in June. The ring, estimated to sell for US$3 million to US$5 million, originally belonged to Queen Marie Antoinette.

Global sales at Bonhams reached US$970 million, with jewellery sales consistently selling above estimates in 2025. Jewellery sales cemented Bonhams' position as a market leader for the category, especially in the UK, for the past 15 years. A key sale in 2025 was Nancy Astor's rare Cartier turquoise and diamond tiara, circa 1930, which sold for US$1.2 million, over three times its pre-sale estimate.