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High jewellery collections displayed during this season’s Haute Couture Week in Paris and at private events since May offered exceptional pieces ripe for investors, but concerns over supply chain reliability clouded the mood.
“High-net-worth individuals have seen the value of their stock and bonds fluctuate, and they are looking at alternative ways to invest their money,” says John Rigas, chairman of British luxury jewellery and accessories brand Asprey. “Art and jewellery are certainly a safe investment with solid intrinsic value preserved over time.”
Jean-Marc Mansvelt, CEO of Parisian jeweller Chaumet, agrees consumers are looking to high jewellery as a long-term financial investment. “There are clients buying jewellery for their beauty and those buying it as an investment,” he said at the presentation of the brand’s new high jewellery collection, titled le Jardin de Chaumet.
Jewellery has historically attracted investors and been used as a form of currency, particularly in troubled times. Over the past decade, gold has appreciated in price by close to 50 per cent. In May, the Heidi Horten collection sold for $202.1 million through Christie’s, making it the world’s most valuable single collection of jewellery to come to auction (although the sale was controversial because much of the Horten wealth derived from Nazi party member Helmut Horten).
At Chaumet, pieces that caught the eye included the Mistletoe necklace set with a 21.59-carat cushion-cut Colombian emerald amid diamond-studded foliage — intended to appeal to investment-minded buyers as much as jewellery lovers.
Jewellery’s investment potential is also evident in Bulgari’s Mediterranea collection, which includes gems such as a 15.50-carat yellow diamond drop in the Tribute to Venice necklace; a 66.8-carat Sri Lankan cabochon-cut sapphire in the Southern Sapphire necklace; and a 218.53-carat sugar loaf Colombian emerald in the Muse of Rome necklace. “One out of four is a $1 million piece, which we never did in such proportions in the past,” says Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin. “We are doing this not just for the sake of it, but because we see the demand and believe that they will sell.”
Back in June, big stones, such as a 12.08-carat D-flawless of the purest type IIA category diamond and a 12.14-carat ruby from Mozambique, lit up the presentation for the Les Jardins de la Couture Dior collection. The 170-piece collection, unveiled at Villa D’Este on Lake Como, is Dior’s biggest ever.
Messika and Graff are focusing on big diamonds, while De Beers, alongside the second drop of its Metamorphosis collection, has introduced a collection titled Natural Works of Art made up of diamonds of exceptional rarity and value, including a 2.78-carat “fancy intense pinkish purple” — one of the rarest colours on the market.
Meanwhile, Japanese pearl specialist Tasaki is investing more resources in diamonds. A service, presented in London in February, sources rough diamonds and cuts them according to clients’ needs. The Tasaki Atelier 6 high jewellery collection includes plenty of the house’s pearls as well as collectable diamonds and sought-after paraiba tourmalines.
Tensions in the supply chain
For luxury jewellers, the supply chain is a less welcome subject. Sanctions on Myanmar’s rubies and the current unacceptability of Russian diamonds and Afghanistan’s lapis lazuli gems in the West have had a severe impact on jewellers’ ability to source stones. Competition for gemstones is intense in the fine jewellery market, currently valued at $280 billion, according to consultancy McKinsey Co — with new brand entrants lining up to join a sector of which 80 per cent of production is still unbranded. “There are many more players, and sourcing gemstones is increasingly difficult, so much so that our atelier needs to have all the stones available before designing,” says Mansvelt of Chaumet.
Gemstone dealer François Garaude notes a lack of the highly skilled stone cutters and buyers in line with ESG criteria. This is creating a bottleneck and pushing up prices.
Brands are responding by exploring alternative stones in their new collections. These collections appeal primarily to customers who love jewellery and appreciate the craftsmanship. Asprey has launched a collection of some 60 pieces focusing on jadeite, a gem highly prized in Asia, offered with a novel quality certification created in collaboration with Oxford University.
“The sector has become more and more challenging — there are also more maisons entering the game,” says Benjamin Comar, CEO at Swiss luxury watchmaker and jeweller Piaget, which recently launched its design-driven Metaphoria collection. “What makes the difference? Your connections within the gem world and being more daring by using different stones. This season, our nature theme called for surprising materials like wood, pietersite, sodalite, quartz rutile or elytra — it just came all together perfectly.”
At Italian fine jewellery brand Pomellato, creative director Vincenzo Castaldo preferred to stay away from the big four gems (diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires) to concentrate on the “new precious”, selecting alternative stones chosen for their colour, and setting them in wearable jewellery. And, French luxury jewellery company Van Cleef Arpels set some of its pieces with antique intaglios and cameos.
Can a luxury brand serve two different types of customers successfully? CEO of Kering-owned jewellery brand Boucheron Hélène Poulit-Duquesne believes so. “The market is increasingly polarised between historic maisons with ancestral know-how and classic collections and those who break the codes, whether in terms of style or creativity, such as fashion brands,” she says. Boucheron, a maison founded in 1858, resides within the first category, but it is also breaking codes. Its new More is More collection experiments with setting diamonds in magnesium to make jewels light and comfortable, and has introduced a bejewelled pocket to attach to a coat or dress. It also, last year, created a fine jewellery capsule collection with Cofalit, a shimmery stone-like material produced from asbestos in a way that renders the substance safe.
Beyond jewellery
The discreet behind-the-scenes approach to selling high jewellery is being replaced by a more boisterous style. Marketing events include private palaces hired across multiple days, jewellery showcased on models wearing custom-made gowns, theatrical performances, private concerts by music stars such as Kylie Minogue (Chanel) or Diana Ross (Dolce Gabbana), and yacht cruises in the Greek islands (Louis Vuitton).
Erwan Rambourg, global head of consumer and retail research at HSBC, says these events have a broader audience than the guests, with lots of potential for social media marketing. “The events have a trickle-down effect bestowing their halo on the brand and their other product categories,” he says. High jewellery is not the most profitable part of the jewellery business, he notes, but its prestige can provide a significant marketing boost to more profitable lines.
“We want our clients to associate us not only with fabulous jewellery but also with unique experiences,” says Jean-Christophe Babin of Bulgari, a brand that continues to open hotels worldwide (Tokyo opened in April; Rome in June). In May, Bulgari enlisted former Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld to style the brand’s jewellery show inside Venice’s Ducal Palace, watched by ambassadors including actor Priyanka Chopra Jones and Blackpink’s Lisa, concluding with a concert by Norah Jones.
The mix of fashion and jewellery in shows or presentations is an easy win for brands such as Dior, Louis Vuitton and Gucci. In June, Gucci showed its Allegoria collection in Florence, the long sautoirs perfectly following the neckline of evening gowns. Chopard has found its own solution to joining in this trend, launching its own haute couture collection, presented in May during the Cannes Film Festival.
Hospitality concepts are becoming more adventurous. Before the start of couture week, French jewellery brand Messika opened a pop-up terrace bar at Paris department store Printemps Haussmann. Richemont-owned Cartier created a coffee kiosk in front of its boutique in Rue de la Paix, while Boucheron came up with a colourful and Instagrammable ice cream cart in front of its Place Vendôme boutique, offering sorbets to passers-by.
Such initiatives encourage potential clients to walk inside jewellery stores, which are often considered intimidating spaces. HSBC’s Rambourg notes how Tiffany Co.’s new store in New York has become a tourist attraction thanks to its extensive collection of art. “LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault recently mentioned that Louis Vuitton does not sell handbags, but culture,” he says. So, how far can a brand be stretched? “It all depends on your brand equity and on your appetite and on your history.”
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