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rare whisky, jewelry, colored diamonds, handbags, coins and furniture, rose 9 percent in 2021. The growth rate was the strongest annual performance since 2018.” BLOOMBERG “[The Knight Frank index] puts preowned luxury watches ahead of a slew of other alternative asset investments, in- cluding vintage cars, gold, and certainly crypto currencies, which have suffered a steep decline in recent months.” “Interest in collectible vintage watches spiked during the pandemic as consumers, flush with cash but stuck at home, parked funds in timepieces they lusted over online. Some investors who earned big returns in tech stocks and crypto currencies looked to preowned watches as the next hot asset class … Prices for some Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet references more than doubled as new buyers piled into a market previously populated by staid collector and hobbyist.” SPEAR’S MAGAZINE “The strong performance of wine and watches follows a de- cade of significant growth for the two asset classes. Knight Frank’s attitudes survey, which consults over 600 private bankers, wealth managers and private offices, found that, globally, a quarter of wealth advisers said their clients had increased their spending on passion investments in 2021, a similar proportion to 2020.” INVESTMENT 10-YEAR VALUE INCREASE Watches +108% Jewelry +57% Colored diamonds +23%
SEBASTIAN DUTHY, AMR [ART MARKET RESEARCH] “For big auction houses like Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phil- lips, luxury categories such as watches were once seen as a gateway to their main business of selling art. Last year [2021] proved that this was no longer the case, as total sales of watches topped $481 million at auction worldwide … an increase of 54 percent on the previous year.” “Independent watchmakers stole the headlines in 2021, with new records set for watches. AMR’s index of Rolex sports watches showed the steepest climb, however, as appetite for the finest examples remains insatiable. According to our new Rolex watch report, Rolex Daytonas continue to increase in value the most overall, closely followed by Explorers and Submariners.” MIRI CHEN, FANCY COLOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION “The market saw an overall increase in 2021 in all categories of natural fancy color diamonds. Due to a significant short - age of pink diamonds between one and three carats, prices have risen, especially in the Intense category. We have also seen prices of yellow diamonds in various categories in- crease, mainly in the five- to 10-carat range. Among smaller diamonds, one-carat Fancy Vivid Yellows stood out.” “We are now seeing buyers from the United States and Eu- ropean Union driving the strongest demand for fancy color “The collectible luxury goods market performed strongly in 2021, as investors worldwide snatched up top-class physical assets to hedge against inflation and stock-market volatili - ty.” “Knight Frank’s luxury investment index, which tracks the value of 10 luxury assets, including art, cars, watches, wine, diamonds.” BARRON’S
WEALTH 101: WHAT ALL THE ASTUTE INVESTORS ARE WEARING
What asset classes are bringing big returns for investors and connoisseurs? Not what you may think. Longtime retailer & market expert Denis Boulle puts the hot new collectibles in perspective.
They are called passion investments — and they are gain- ing fast on stocks, bonds and certificates. In fact, in my 40 years in this business, I have never seen anything quite like this: Investors and high-net-worth individuals are ratchet- ing up their spending on collectibles as money-makers — no longer just sticking to the traditional monetary portfoli - os. Some headlines this year tell the story: “Collectible Watches and Fine Wine Ranked Best-Perform - ing Luxury Assets” “Rolex and Patek Returns Beat Vintage Cars and Bitcoin” “Fine Wine and Watches Top Luxury Investment Index” One influential report backing up this phenomenon is the newest Luxury Investment Index by Knight Frank, one of the world’s leading independent real estate consultancies. The 2022 iteration of the annual survey is an eye-opener: Of 10 asset classes ranked by their increases in value from 2020 to 2021, watches and wine are leading the list — by a long shot. Each has risen a solid 16 percent in one year, and, in the case of watches, an impressive 108 percent over 10 years. Watches are outperforming art — not to mention cars, coins, handbags and furniture. Jewelry is gaining as an investible asset, too, with an impressive 57-percent val- ue increase over 10 years. Colored diamonds, one of the 10 asset classes, are up 23 percent over 10 years. This is all very exciting — though it’s something we’ve seen and known all along at de Boulle: These pleasurable, beautiful, wearable things are also solid investments. When an economy becomes uncertain, watches and jew - elry are proven sure bets. Here are some more facts and figures about the hottest investment classes going.
“ IN MY 40 YEARS IN THIS BUSINESS, I HAVE NEVER SEEN
ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS. —Denis Boulle
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