Sotheby's 2025: Record Watch Sales, Increased Jewelry Sales

(IDEX Online) - Sotheby's says 2025 was a record year for watch sales, up 22 per cent on the previous year at $193.6m.

Worldwide jewelry revenue increased 18 per cent on 2024 to $317.7m, with the sale of some notable lots, but it fell well short of the company's 2014 record, when it sold a total of $603m.

Among the watch highlights was Audemars Piguet's crowning achievement, the Grosse Piece pocket watch, which fetched $7.7m, way above its high pre-sale estimate of $1m.

The year-on-year increase in jewelry revenue was driven by landmark sales, private collections and new markets, the auction house said.

The highest-grossing lots were the 10.03-carat fancy vivid blue Mediterranean Blue, which sold for $21.1m; the 31.68-carat fancy vivid orangy pink Desert Rose, which sold for $8.8m and a 4.50-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, that fetched $6m.

"This has been an exceptionally strong year for the Jewelry market, marked by multiple 'white glove' sales and expansion into new markets," said Quig Bruning, head of Sotheby's jewels, Americas & EMEA

"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."

The 2014 record was achieved on the back of some remarkable stones, among them the Zoe Blue diamond (now known as the Mellon Blue) which sold for $32.6m; the Graff Vivid Yellow diamond, which sold for $16.3m and the Hutton-Mdivani jadeite necklace, which fetched $27.4m.

Pic shows the Zoe Blue diamond (now known as the Mellon Blue).