Sotheby’s is rebranding its jewelry division to attract younger consumers and enhance its digital presence.
The auction house will call its flagship jewelry sales High Jewelry instead of Magnificent Jewels, it said on Friday. The change aligns Sotheby’s with leading luxury brands while increasing visibility among younger collectors searching for high jewelry online.
Sotheby’s has also expanded its online jewelry sales, making high-value purchases more accessible. The company has seen an increase in digital engagement, with Millennial buyers now comfortable purchasing six-figure pieces without seeing them in person. To supplement this shift, the auction house is offering monthly Gem Drop sales through its Sotheby’s Sealed platform, where high-quality gemstones are available without reserve or buyer’s premiums.
To support its jewelry expansion, Sotheby’s has also made several key hires. Edmond Chan is returning as head of the jewelry department in Hong Kong, bringing expertise from his previous role at Luxeford, where he specialized in digital auctions. Graeme Thompson, a veteran in the industry with over 23 years of experience at Phillips, Bonhams and LJ West, is joining as a senior international specialist in Dubai, leading sales and sourcing in the Middle East. Jessica Koers, a gemologist and jewelry historian, will come aboard as senior specialist for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), leveraging her background at Christie’s and Sotheby’s to grow the business in the European market.
“It used to be that the jewelry client was typically of one particular profile with established collecting habits, and all our interactions with them, including bidding, were in person,” said Emma Paleschi, global managing director of jewelry at Sotheby’s. “While those clients remain an extremely important part of our client base, our evolving clientele now includes a growing alternative profile of client, one which is finding us, engaging with us and transacting with us via entirely different tools.”
In addition to renaming its top-tier sales, which differentiate it from competitor Christie’s, which also has Magnificent Jewels sales, Sotheby’s has also rebranded its Fine Jewels sales as Fine Jewelry. The company will continue to hold its annual Royal and Noble sale every November in Geneva, Switzerland, offering historically significant collections to bidders.
Images: Graeme Thompson, Jessica Koers and Edmond Chan. (Sotheby’s)
