July 20: Luxury Stocks Finally Move With the Saleroom: Richemont's 24% Jewelry Surge, a Record $6.8 Billion Half, and the Largest Memorabilia Sale Ever
For months the listed luxury names have slid while the auction rooms kept setting records. This week that pattern finally broke, and the spark was Richemont, the Swiss group behind Cartier, whose results beat expectations and lifted the entire sector. Two things drove it, and both matter far beyond one company: a double-digit sales rebound in greater China, and a 24 percent surge in jewelry, the hardest and scarcest end of luxury. In the same stretch the big three auction houses posted their strongest first half since 2022, and a single memorabilia collection became the largest ever sold. Underneath it all is the pattern we keep coming back to, a three-speed market in which the top is racing, the everyday base is broadening, and the aspirational middle is being pulled along.

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The Markets
- The tape broke a pattern it had held for months. Richemont's results sent its shares up more than 7 percent, their best day since April, and that single result lifted the whole sector.
- Hermès, LVMH and Kering, the owner of Gucci, all rose between 2 and 3 percent, and Swatch, the maker of Omega and Tissot, jumped nearly 4 percent.
- Into the new week the majors gave a little back, with LVMH easing to around 485 euros. Gold held near the record highs it set earlier this year.

Why the Stocks Turned
- China: Richemont reported double-digit sales growth in the greater China region, the clearest sign yet that the Chinese luxury buyer, whose retreat has weighed on the sector for two years, may be returning.
- Jewelry. Richemont's jewelry division, home to Cartier and Van Cleef and Arpels, grew sales 24 percent, a seventh straight quarter of double-digit growth. This is the hardest, scarcest end of luxury, and the corner our own data has flagged as the strongest all year.

The Record Half
- Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips together sold about 6.8 billion dollars in the first half, up roughly 70 percent year on year and the strongest first half since 2022.
- Christie's alone brought in 4.5 billion. Sotheby's turnover reached an all-time high. Sell-through rates at both houses sat around 90 percent, a sign of real depth rather than a few trophies flattering the total.
- The growth came from two engines: the trophy lots at the very top and the luxury goods, the watches and jewelry, at the more accessible end.
- The everyday base set a record too, as the collection of the late Jim Irsay, longtime owner of the Indianapolis Colts, brought 105.2 million dollars across five Christie's sales, the largest memorabilia sale ever held.

Coming to the Block
- Monterey, in California, next month: RM Sotheby's leads with an Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, one of the most coveted cars ever built.
- The Goodwood Revival this autumn: a 1925 Bugatti Type 35C, a genuine pre-war Grand Prix car, goes up with no reserve.
- Live at auction right now: a rare Rolex GMT-Master II and a Patek Philippe World Time.

The Three-Speed Read
- The top of the market, the genuinely rare and hand-made, is racing. The everyday collectibles base, the coins and the memorabilia, is broadening. The aspirational middle, the logo handbags and mall luxury, is being pulled along rather than leading.
- This week the fastest lane pulled the other two up with it. That split is exactly what our data exists to measure, lot by lot.

Quick Hits
- Rolex is marking 100 years of the Oyster, the case that made the modern waterproof watch, with a run of centennial models. Heritage itself has become a form of value.
- Christie's in London handed its summer exhibition, for the first time, to a South Asian institution, showing the collection of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art from New Delhi.
- The world record for a single bottle of wine now stands at 812,500 dollars, paid for a 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, a Burgundy so rare that only a few hundred bottles of that vintage were ever made.

By the Numbers
- Richemont: sales +20 percent to 6.33 billion euros (ahead of the 5.90 billion expected); shares +7 percent; jewelry +24 percent, a seventh straight double-digit quarter.
- Auction first half: about 6.8 billion dollars across the big three, +70 percent, strongest since 2022. Christie's 4.5 billion; Sotheby's turnover an all-time high; ~90 percent sell-through.
- Jim Irsay Collection: 105.2 million dollars, the largest memorabilia sale ever.
- Monterey week record, for context: 48.4 million dollars (1962 Ferrari 250 GTO).

The Read
- The divergence we have tracked all year finally narrowed, and it narrowed from the top down, led by the hardest luxury. The open question is whether it lasts or whether it was one strong quarter from one strong house. If the listed names keep following the saleroom, the gap keeps closing; if the rally fades, it simply reopens.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Luxury Spending — Tuesday
- Art Market — Wednesday
- Auto Market — Thursday
- Closing Price — Friday
- The Wealth Signal — the weekly newsletter on LinkedIn

July 13: The Collectibles Boom Reaches the Coins and Comics: Heritage's $1.4B Record, a 900-Work Sotheby's Trove, and the Modigliani That Trailed the S&P
This week the strength that began at the very top of the art world reached all the way down to the coins and the comic books. Heritage Auctions, the largest auctioneer of everyday collectibles in the world, posted a record first half of about 1.4 billion dollars and said plainly that the collecting market is broadening, and an independent report from ArtTactic found the major houses have genuinely recovered. Three unrelated sales, a 900-work private trove at Sotheby's, a rare Lamborghini Diablo, and an animatronic bear tied to Jeff Koons, showed how wide the appetite has become. And our own research asked the question no one else did: what did that record 63.9 million dollar Modigliani actually return? Less than a plain index fund.

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Heritage Sets a Record, and the Boom Broadens
- Heritage Auctions posted a record first half of about 1.4 billion dollars. Unlike Christie's and Sotheby's at the blue-chip end, Heritage is the world's largest house for the collectibles most people grew up with, the coins, comic books, trading cards, and sports and film memorabilia.
- The company made a point of saying the collecting market is getting broad, with more categories, more buyers, and more price points rising at once.
- Independent confirmation: the research firm ArtTactic found the major auction houses have genuinely recovered this year. The strength that began at the top, with a 63.9 million dollar Modigliani, is now reaching the everyday collector.

What's Coming to Market (Three Separate Sales)
- Sotheby's unveiled Magnum Opus, 900 works from a single private owner, one of the largest collections to come to auction in years.
- One of the rarest Lamborghini Diablos ever built is heading to sale in the collector-car market.
- A large animatronic bear said to have inspired the artist Jeff Koons is going to the block. Three unrelated sales, three different worlds, all active at once.

Provenance Cuts Both Ways
- A strong current of restitution ran through the week: more than a thousand repatriated artefacts went on display in Bogotá, and the United States returned two looted bronze Buddha statues.
- Provenance, the documented history of who owned an object, has become one of the most powerful forces in this market, and it works in both directions. A clean history adds value; a tainted one takes it away.

The Finding: A Record Price Is Not a Return
- Everyone saw the headline 63.9 million dollar Modigliani. We asked what it returned. Bought in 1995 for 12.4 million dollars, sold this year for 63.9 million, that is about 5.4 percent a year across 31 years of ownership.
- A plain index fund compounded at nearly double that rate over the same span. The same 12.4 million put into the S&P in 1995 would be worth far more today than the painting ever fetched at its record.

By the Numbers
- Heritage first half: about 1.4 billion dollars, a record.
- Modigliani: bought 12.4 million dollars (1995), sold 63.9 million dollars (2026), roughly 5.4 percent a year over 31 years.
- Sotheby's Magnum Opus: 900 works, single owner.
- Equities: the listed luxury names stayed soft, with LVMH slipping to around 490 euros even as the auction floor set records.

The Read
- The collectibles boom is no longer just a top-end story. It is broadening down-market to the coins and comics even as the listed luxury stocks lag, which is the divergence we track playing out across the whole market. But a record headline and a strong return are two very different things, and our data exists to tell them apart.

Links:
- ALT/FNDATA: https://www.altfndata.com
- Heritage Auctions reports a record first half (Heritage Press): https://www.ha.com
- Auction houses recovered in H1 2026 (ArtTactic): https://www.arttactic.com
- Sotheby's unveils the Magnum Opus collection (Sotheby's): https://www.sothebys.com
- Modigliani return analysis: ALT/FNDATA market data
- Prices: ALT/FNDATA market data and Yahoo Finance, https://finance.yahoo.com

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Luxury Spending — tomorrow, the $500,000 Rolex and the diamond quietly losing its crown
- Closing Price — Friday, the whole week pulled together
- The Wealth Signal — the weekly newsletter on LinkedIn

July 2: A Tale of Two Deals in French Luxury: Chanel Buys Charvet as Moreau Is Sold in Court, the Most Expensive Tequila Ever Sells at Auction, and Luxury Shoppers Outrun the Brands on AI
A tale of two deals frames the day: Chanel buys the 188-year-old Parisian shirtmaker Charvet while the leather-goods house Moreau Paris is sold off through a court-supervised process, consolidation at the top and attrition below. A single bottle of tequila becomes the most expensive ever sold at auction, new research finds luxury's own affluent shoppers are adopting AI faster than the brands, watchmaking opens a new chapter, Richemont backs six emerging designers, and European luxury opens firmer.

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A Tale of Two Deals
- Chanel, the private house controlled by the Wertheimer family, has bought Charvet, the Parisian shirtmaker founded in 1838 on the Place Vendôme, to secure the 188-year-old company's future. Charvet has worked closely with Chanel's artistic director Matthieu Blazy. The great houses are spending to lock up craft that cannot be replaced.
- Meanwhile Moreau Paris, a maker of fine leather goods, is being sold through a court-supervised process, with strategic and financial buyers circling. Two deals, one picture: consolidation at the top, attrition below.

A Record at Auction
- A bottle of Clase Azul Día de Muertos añejo (2017, one of only 300 made), first sold for 250 dollars in Cabo San Lucas, fetched 35,000 dollars at a Sotheby's online sale, the most ever paid for a tequila at auction and roughly a 140x return in under a decade. Rare spirits have become one of the fastest-appreciating corners of the passion-asset world.

Luxury's Customers Race Ahead on AI
- New research from Bain & Company finds affluent shoppers are adopting generative AI to discover, compare and decide on purchases faster than the houses are adapting. An unusual reversal, with the wealthy buyer out ahead of the brands.

Watchmaking's Independent Turn
- François-Henri Bennahmias, the former chief executive of Audemars Piguet, is launching his own brand, N3W5, debuting at Dubai Watch Week next year.
- At the revived Universal Genève, chief executive Georges Kern is rebuilding the dormant name with a couture-house approach, and hints jewelry could follow. The energy in watches sits with founders and revivalists.

Richemont Backs the Next Generation
- Richemont (ticker CFR on the Swiss exchange, about 183 francs), owner of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, is backing six emerging designers, helping them produce and sell their collections at a Paris pop-up this fall. A signal the establishment still sees room to grow the market, not just defend its share.

Quick Hits
- Messika unveiled a one-of-a-kind necklace set with a 20.46-carat blue diamond from Botswana, one of the largest and rarest such stones ever found in the country.
- Fred, the jeweler owned by LVMH, marks its 90th anniversary with a 101-carat yellow diamond, the Soleil d'Or, which returns to the house's vaults after a showing at Paris Couture Week.
- Looking ahead to July's sales: a dinosaur skeleton named Gus, a dramatic Highland landscape by Landseer, and an early model of the Statue of Liberty.

The Markets (Thursday open)
- European luxury opened firmer after the soft start to the half: Watches of Switzerland up almost 3 percent, LVMH, Kering and Hermès each modestly higher, Burberry down about half a percent. It went on to rally hard into the close; full read this evening on Closing Price.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Closing Price — this evening, the day's signals
- Open Bid returns tomorrow 

July 1: Christie's Old Masters Set 7 World Records While a Contemporary Collection Flops Online with 55% Unsold; Lagerfeld's Sketches Come to Market at Sotheby's
H2 2026 opens on the same split as the H1 with Christie's Classic Week setting seven world records in London while, online, a once-buzzy contemporary collection could barely find a buyer. Plus a thousand unseen Karl Lagerfeld sketches head to Sotheby's, Bugatti builds a one-off hypercar, and a soft open for European luxury to start the half.

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A Tale of Two Salerooms
- Christie's Classic Week evening sales in London (Old Masters + The Exceptional Sale) made around 64 million dollars and set seven world auction records, led by Titian's Rest on the Flight into Egypt at 17.6 million pounds (about 22 million dollars), an artist record.
- The same week, Christie's online sale of the contemporary Zabludowicz works flopped: 55 percent of lots failed to sell, once-buzzy artists went for a fraction of old prices, one work fetched just 127 pounds. The flight to quality, lot by lot.

Lagerfeld Comes to Market
- Sotheby's is holding its sixth sale of the late Karl Lagerfeld's collection, including a thousand previously unseen sketches, plus his gloves, iPods and hundreds of drawings. A designer's archive as coveted as anything on the runway.

Quick Hits
- Bugatti unveiled a one-of-a-kind hypercar, the Mistral Blanc Éternel, a 1,578 hp roadster built with porcelain atelier KPM. More tomorrow on Auto Market.
- Loro Piana (LVMH) won a Turin injunction against copies of its White Sole shoes. At the top of luxury, the design is the asset worth defending.

The Markets (Wednesday open)
- European luxury opened soft to start H2: Burberry down almost 3 percent, LVMH off a fraction, Richemont down about 0.8 percent, Kering up about 1 percent (steadying after Monday's rout). Full read tonight on Closing Price.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Luxury Spending — this weekend on watches, jewelry and handbags
- Closing Price — this evening, the day's signals
- Open Bid returns tomorrow

June 30: Saks Turns the Page on Bankruptcy as Exemplar Luxury Group; Prime Day Hits $26.4B but Inflation Tells the Real Story; the Last Affordable Ferrari
Today: Saks Global exits bankruptcy and rebrands as Exemplar Luxury Group; a record Prime Day turns out to be more an inflation story than a demand story; where the bargains still hide in the Ferrari market; plus the European open and a look ahead to Art Market.

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Saks Turns the Page
- Saks Global, the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, has formally exited bankruptcy and rebranded as Exemplar Luxury Group. CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck says the new identity marks a new chapter and a higher standard with brands, customers and staff.
- The takeaway: even with the top of the market thriving, the business of selling luxury, the department stores and multi-brand retailers, has had a hard decade. The brands are strong; the middlemen are under pressure.

And the Top Keeps Printing
- Christie's closed its Paris luxury season with a jewelry sale that totaled 10.5 million euros, double its presale estimate. The houses that sell luxury are under pressure, while the objects themselves have rarely been worth more.

A Record Prime Day, and What It Really Means
- Amazon's Prime Day drove a record 26.4 billion dollars over four days, up 9 percent, by Adobe Analytics' estimate (Amazon doesn't release its own figures). But Adobe attributes much of the growth to inflation, not to people buying more.
- The same split we keep tracking: real, record demand at the very top; bigger everyday numbers that are as much about higher prices as healthy appetite.

The Accessible End of Collecting
- In a market where trophy Ferraris trade for eight figures, Robb Report argues one Ferrari is still within reach: the Mondial, roughly 40,000 to 80,000 dollars, the cheapest way into the marque. It is cheap for specific reasons: a four-seater, never the fastest, and long overlooked by collectors.
- The catch: a cheap Ferrari is not a cheap car to own. Servicing costs the same as any Ferrari, a major service running past 30,000 dollars, more than half the price of the car.
- A reminder that the collector car market is not only the eight-figure headline. There is an accessible end, and it is often where the value sits. More on Thursday's Auto Market.

Quick Hits
- Hearts on Fire is marking its 30th anniversary by remaking itself from a diamond wholesaler into a fine-jewellery house, with its sights on Asia.
- Lululemon's shareholders backed the board, settling a public standoff with its founder.

The Markets (Tuesday open)
- European luxury opened under pressure: Kering down more than 3 percent (the soft spot), LVMH down about 0.9 percent, Hermès down about 0.7 percent, Burberry down about 2.2 percent, Richemont and Swatch close to flat. Full read tonight on Closing Price.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Art Market — this morning, the week in the art world
- Closing Price — this evening, the day's signals
- Open Bid returns Wednesday 

June 29: London Art Market Beats the Brexit Blues with Its Biggest Haul in 10 Years; Christie's Sets World Record in Paris with €5.8M Handbag Sale; Luxury Recovers from the Top Down
London's art market posts its biggest summer auction haul in a decade; Christie's sets a world record for an online handbag sale in Paris; luxury starts to turn a corner, led by the US and China, even as the everyday shopper tires of higher prices; plus a calmer open to the week after the US and Iran agreed to halt attacks.

ALT/FNDATA
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London's Art Market Beats the Brexit Blues
- London's summer auctions across the big three houses brought in around 560 million dollars, up roughly 300 percent on a year ago: the city's biggest haul in a decade, after ten years of post-Brexit drift.
- Sotheby's led with the Joe Lewis Collection, a 392.6 million dollar evening sale and the most valuable single-owner collection ever sold in Europe. Top lot: Modigliani's 1917 nude Nu assis au collier at about 63.9 million dollars (the season's highest). A René Magritte gouache, La Belle Promenade, made 21.2 million, up more than sevenfold since 2014.
- Christie's sold the Zabludowicz collection for 15.4 million pounds, led by Philip Guston's Mirror Head (3.9 million pounds), a Richard Prince Cowboy (1.5 million), and a Rose Wylie artist record (292,000 pounds). Phillips added 11.9 million pounds across 90 lots.
- The caveat: The Art Newspaper cautions that one strong season won't transform a market still below its decade-ago peaks, with galleries contracting even as trophies soar. The same top-versus-broad split we track across luxury. More this week on Art Market.

A Handbag World Record in Paris
- Christie's "Handbags Online: The Paris Edit" set a new world record for an online handbag sale, totaling 5.8 million euros, with 98 percent of lots sold and 83 percent selling above their high estimates, drawing bidders from 47 countries.
- Near-total sell-through with most lots beating estimates: demand at the top of the handbag market is fierce, the same story the trophy painting is telling in London.

Luxury Turns a Corner, as the Everyday Shopper Tires
- A new Business of Fashion study with McKinsey finds luxury gradually returning to growth after a long slowdown, led by the United States and China, the most constructive read on the broad market in some time.
- But the recovery is uneven. The same morning, Lindt is heading for its worst quarter in 17 years as ordinary consumers tire of higher prices. The top sets records; the everyday shopper is fatigued. Luxury is recovering from the top down.

Quick Hits
- Hermès opened a new maison on London's Bond Street.
- LVMH, through Orient Express, launched its first luxury yacht, courting a new class of tech billionaires.

By the Numbers
- London summer season: around 560 million dollars across the big three, up roughly 300 percent year on year. Lewis Collection evening: 392.6 million dollars (Europe's most valuable single-owner sale); top lot Modigliani Nu assis au collier at about 63.9 million dollars; Magritte La Belle Promenade 21.2 million. Zabludowicz: 15.4 million pounds, led by Guston's Mirror Head at 3.9 million pounds.
- Christie's Paris handbag sale: 5.8 million euros, world record for an online handbag sale; 98 percent sold; 83 percent above high estimate; 47 countries.

The Markets (Monday open)
- A calmer open after the US and Iran agreed to halt attacks ahead of talks. Oil back toward 72 dollars, gold easing, the dollar firmer.
- European luxury opened mostly higher: Burberry the standout, up about 2.5 percent; Brunello Cucinelli up more than 1 percent; Hermès and Richemont near flat; LVMH and Kering each down a fraction. Full read tonight on Closing Price.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Closing Price — this evening at 5 PM ET (the day's signals)
- Open Bid returns tomorrow at 6 AM ET

June 26: Bain Trims Its Luxury Forecast to 2-4%, but the Top Keeps Booming; London's Art Season Roars Back; the Rise of "Inheritourism"
Bain trims its 2026 luxury forecast after a rough first half, but the very top of the market keeps setting records; London's art season roars back with a second big collection sale in a week; luxury money shifts toward experiences and "inheritourism"; and new arrivals from Rolex and Porsche.

ALT/FNDATA
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Bain's Forecast, and a Market Split
- Bain & Company and Altagamma trimmed their outlook: personal luxury goods are now seen growing just 2 to 4 percent in 2026, after a punishing first half (Middle East conflict and oil spikes, US inflation at multi-year highs, record-low consumer confidence, the ECB's first rate hike since 2023).
- The split we keep flagging: Bain's caution is about the broad market, the entry-level bag and the aspirational shopper. The very top is another story. This week a single Modigliani sold for $63.9M in London, and in our data the year's top results (a $25.6M jade necklace, eight-figure Ferraris and watches) keep climbing.

London's Art Season Roars Back
- After the record Lewis Collection sale, Christie's quietly sold around 100 works from the Zabludowicz collection for some $20M. Two major single-owner collections to market in one week, both finding buyers, signals confidence has returned to the top of the art trade.

Experiences Over Things, and "Inheritourism"
- CNBC reports luxury money is flowing to experiences over goods: experiences (travel, events, dining) are set to grow 3 to 7 percent versus low-single-digit growth for goods, with cruises drawing first-timers. The trend it calls "inheritourism" is wealthy families traveling together, as a younger, inheriting generation takes on its parents' taste for travel over status goods.

Quick Hits
- Rolex opened what it bills as the world's highest watch boutique, high in the Swiss Alps.
- Porsche unveiled its first GT4 race car based on the 911, aimed at the track-day crowd.

The Markets (Friday open)
- European luxury opened quietly mixed after a wild week: LVMH down about 0.4 percent, Watches of Switzerland down about 1.3 percent, Pandora the standout, up another 3 percent. Full week's wrap on Closing Price tonight.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Closing Price — this evening at 5 PM ET (week in review)
- Open Bid returns Monday at 6 AM ET

June 25: Billionaire's Collection Sells for $392.6M; a Modigliani Bought for $12.4M Sold for $63.9M; Versace's CEO Steps Down
The art collection of British billionaire Joe Lewis smashes records at Sotheby's, led by a 63.9 million dollar Modigliani he bought for 12.4 million in 1995; the CEO of Versace resigns; the rug from The Big Lebowski heads to auction; and the luxury market steadies after a wild week.

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The Lewis Collection: A Record Night
- The collection of British billionaire Joe Lewis sold at Sotheby's London for 392.6 million dollars, a record for a single-owner sale anywhere in Europe and nearly double its estimate. Just one of 25 lots failed to sell, and the house guaranteed none of them, a real vote of confidence at the top of the market.
- The top lot: Modigliani's 1917 "Seated Nude Wearing a Necklace" (Nu assis au collier) at 63.9 million dollars, a European auction record for the artist. Lewis had bought it at Christie's in 1995 for 12.4 million dollars, a more than five-fold gain over 31 years.

From Our Data
- The strength at the top isn't new. The most valuable fine-art result in our database over the past year is a 43.8 million dollar Canaletto view of Venice (Christie's), with a tight cluster of eight-figure modern masters just behind. Trophy names with clean provenance keep clearing big numbers, even as the middle of the market turns choosier.

Luxury Business: A Change at Versace
- Versace CEO Emmanuel Gintzburger has resigned. Versace was acquired by the Prada Group last year, and a leadership change was widely expected as Prada integrates the brand, another sign of consolidation at the top of Italian luxury.

Quick Hits
- The actual rug from "The Big Lebowski," the one that "really tied the room together," is heading to auction (Robb Report).
- Wealthy buyers are flocking to Spain, treating prime real estate as a haven from war and turmoil (Reuters).

The Markets: A Quiet Open
- After a whipsawing week, European luxury opened quietly mixed: Hermès and Kering edged up (about 0.25% and 0.9%), while LVMH and Richemont slipped slightly. A calm open is its own kind of good news.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Auto Market — out today (Thursday)
- Closing Price — this evening at 5 PM ET
- Open Bid returns tomorrow at 6 AM ET

June 24:Luxury Steadies as China Pulls Back; $25.6M Jadeite Necklace; Remembering Yaacov Agam; Netherlands and Germany Return 2,000 Artefacts to Ghana
Markets steady after a brutal two days, but China's big mid-year shopping festival flashes a warning for luxury; a 25.6 million dollar jade necklace tops our jewelry database; the Netherlands and Germany agree to return 2,000 looted treasures to Ghana; and the art world remembers a pioneer of kinetic art.

ALT/FNDATA
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Markets: Steadying, and a Warning from China
- After Tuesday's selloff (Nasdaq down about 4 percent on Fed-hike fears), European luxury steadied at the open: LVMH and Hermès each up about 0.5 percent, Brunello Cucinelli higher. The laggards were the same all week: Burberry down 2.5 percent, Watches of Switzerland down a third straight day (about 2.9 percent).
- The bigger signal came from China. Its 618 mid-year shopping festival grew online sales just 4 percent year on year, down sharply from more than 15 percent last year (Syntun). For a luxury industry reliant on Chinese demand, that is a caution sign. Notably, secondhand and pre-owned sales jumped nearly 80 percent as shoppers traded down: the resale economy grows as the new-goods market cools.

A $25.6 Million Jade Necklace (ALT/FNDATA data)
- One of the highest jewelry results over the past year is a magnificent jadeite bead and coloured diamond necklace, sold for 25.6 million dollars at Christie's last month. Jadeite is the most prized gemstone in Chinese culture, and top imperial-green strands are rarer than fine diamonds.
- The split, again: a cautious mass-market Chinese consumer, and a firm and dazzling top. At the very top, demand is undimmed.

A Homecoming: 2,000 Treasures Return to Ghana
- The Netherlands and Germany agreed to return more than 2,000 cultural artefacts to Ghana, most taken during the colonial era. The Dutch return some 2,000 objects, including a gold ceremonial pipe the Asante king gave the Dutch monarch in 1837; Germany returns a smaller Kpando-linked group. Announced at a heritage conference in Accra, it follows the return of Asante royal regalia to Kumasi two years ago.

In Memoriam: Yaacov Agam
- Yaacov Agam, the Israeli artist and a founding figure of kinetic art, has died at 98. His works shift and change as the viewer moves, and they hang in major museums worldwide.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
- Luxury Spending — out today (Wednesday)
- Closing Price — this evening at 5 PM ET
- Open Bid returns tomorrow at 6 AM ET

June 23: A Global Tech Selloff Halts Korea; a £5,588 Elizabeth I Jewel Could Fetch 20 Times That; Eric Clapton's 275 GTB Ferrari at $4M
Today: a technology-led selloff drags markets lower and briefly halts trading in South Korea, European luxury slides for a second day, a rediscovered Queen Elizabeth the First pendant bought for around 5,000 pounds heads to auction at more than 20 times that, and Eric Clapton's 1966 Ferrari comes to market at nearly 4 million dollars.

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Markets: A Risk-Off Reversal
- Monday's peace-deal rally flipped to a broad, tech-led selloff. South Korean stocks tumbled 10 percent from a record, triggering a circuit breaker that briefly halted trading; the wider Asian tech rally cooled. Aluminum and other metals fell, and gold lost ground as Deutsche Bank followed Goldman Sachs in cutting its forecast.
- Israeli assets dropped sharply, unwinding a years-long wartime rally as the peace process eased the conflict premium.
- European luxury opened lower for a second day: Hermès 1,590.50 euros (down 1.8 percent, after almost 6 percent Monday), Burberry down 3.9 percent, Brunello Cucinelli down 3.9 percent, LVMH and Kering modestly lower, and watch retailer Watches of Switzerland down about 5.5 percent (a reversal after leading the group higher yesterday).

At Auction: A Queen and a Ferrari
- A sleeper: an amber pendant carved with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth the First, bought for just 5,588 pounds at an Edinburgh auction last November, has been authenticated as a rare Renaissance jewel. Sotheby's will offer it in London on July 1 with an estimate of 100,000 to 150,000 pounds, more than 20 times the purchase price. The portrait follows a 1592 engraving; the carving is attributed to a German amber master in Königsberg.
- Eric Clapton's former 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/4, one of only 31 right-hand-drive examples, is on offer for 2.95 million pounds (nearly 4 million dollars). Clapton owned it 2003 to 2005 and commissioned a full restoration. Past owners of the model include Steve McQueen and Miles Davis.

Luxury Business: Porsche and Ferrari
- Porsche's CEO promised a leaner model lineup as profit pressure mounts, amid a difficult EV transition and a China slowdown.
- Ferrari denied a report that it had made access to its most exclusive limited editions conditional on buying its new Luce electric car. Allocation, deciding which clients may buy the rarest cars, is among the most sensitive subjects in the Ferrari world.

Quick Hits
- Menswear moved from Milan ("less was more") to Paris, where the spring 2027 men's shows are under way.
- Pomellato unveiled a new high-jewelry collection themed on creative freedom.

Disclosure: ALT/FNDATA provides data and analysis, not investment advice.

Also from ALT/FNDATA:
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