What was the best moment of 2023? For us, it was the 6-digit auction of this magnificent Cartier pendant necklace. A bit non-traditional for us at Worthy, but then again the world of diamond and jewelry resale this year was a bit non-traditional, with Christie’s headlining its Magnificent Jewels sale with a $5.25 million Chaumet Ruby and diamond ring. Sotheby’s followed suit with their biggest auction, a 55.22 carat Mozambique Ruby that sold for $34.9 million. Suffice to say 2023 was a good year for rubies.
There were a few less-than-sparkling moments in the diamond and jewelry world as well. The furthering of sanctions on Russian diamonds in late 2023 is sure to have a major impact on the market in the year to come. We are also seeing the fall of lab-grown diamond prices, a natural diamond alternative with all of the sparkle but less controversy.
But on the eve of 2024, we’re taking a moment of reflection and tranquility to look back on our biggest and best auctions of 2023.
Rings still remained the bulk of our auctioned items in 2023, but we did see the numbers dip from last year, making room for a small rise in luxury watch auctions and earrings. And while Worthy has been helping sellers get the highest prices for luxury watches for over a decade, big names like Rolex are finally getting on the resale bandwagon too. The brand that is synonymous with luxury began it’s own Certified Pre-owned Program in May 2023.
Delving a little deeper into this year’s ring auctions, bridal sets were once again our most-sold ring style, followed by solitaire and halo ring styles. These three ring styles continue to be our most popular because they are classics and beloved, with new brides continuing to choose them year after year.
The 4Cs are the biggest determining factors for diamond value – both at retail and resale. We took a look at what properties most of the diamonds we sold this year shared.
As with years past, the most popular diamonds we helped sell this year were nearly colorless (color grades G, H, and I) and had slight inclusions (SI 1-2). As always, round diamonds were the most common – making up 51% of the diamonds we sold – followed by princess-cut at 17% and marquise at 6%.
Just like with rings, classic jewelry styles continue to reign supreme, with stud earrings, tennis bracelets, and pendant necklaces coming in on top.
Sticking with the theme of classics on top, our most popular jewelry brand from 2023 was Tiffany & Co., an icon of classic style and luxury, followed by Cartier at 12%. It isn’t just design that makes these two brands continue to top the charts year after year. It’s also that both Cartier and Tiffany continue to create beautiful jewelry and gorgeous bridal rings, making both experienced jewelry shoppers and brides-to-be flock to their display cases.
Amongst our biggest jewelry auctions this year, we saw some very unique and high-end pieces, including the Cartier Panter pendant we previously mentioned as well as a Bulgari Serpentini cuff bracelet.
Our eyes were on watches this year as we began seeing more and more of them coming through our auctions (up by 2% from 2022). And we were especially pleased to see that our Rolex auctions earned our sellers a combined $2 million! Here are some highlights from the year.
That’s a wrap on 2023’s auctions! Happy New Year from Worthy!
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