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Both Auctions And New High Jewelry Collection On Farfetch Reflect Luxury Growth Online | February 03, 2021 (0 comments)
London, UK—We now know that yes, consumers will buy expensive jewelry online. But just how expensive? Image: A David Morris Paraiba tourmaline ring.
WWD reports London-based jeweler David Morris is set to launch a high jewelry collection on Farfetch. Four pieces from his 13-piece “Renaissance” collection will be available to buy on the site, with the remainder sold through the retailer’s private client services, says the article.
From WWD:
“We are showing that in order to continue our brand’s evolution and meet the demand of the modern consumer, it is vital to keep breaking boundaries at every level, whether that be through our design and atelier process, or the ways in which our pieces are made available to the women around the world who collect our jewelry,” said Jeremy Morris, the house’s creative director and chief executive officer.
Morris has been rethinking the brand’s strategy for some time now, introducing more accessibly priced fine jewelry pieces to its offer, which was mainly known for its one-of-a-kind high jewelry items, and embracing e-commerce with launches on Farfetch and Moda Operandi.
Selling high jewelry online might not be that, uh, farfetched. Farfetch has partnered with De Beers, Chopard, and Tag Heuer watches since its foray into fine jewelry in 2018, says WWD.
Meanwhile, auction houses like Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Doyle are doing a lot of jewelry business online since the coronavirus pandemic began—but they also were doing a lot of business online before.
“They’re killing it online!” says Russell Shor, an industry analyst who has followed the major auction houses for 40 years. “They’re good at it. They know how to make a presentation, and auctions are all about presentation.”
A lot of consumer willingness to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on something they haven’t touched or seen in person comes from trust, too, says Shor. “They’re prestige houses. They have the name and the cachet,” he told The Centurion. That element is certainly something better jewelers have in their favor for boosting online business, especially now that consumers have gotten used to it in the pandemic. Indeed, most better jewelers amped up their online business significantly during the pandemic, although fulfillment often was done in person.
Christie’s had a 200% increase in online [lot] sales for November and December. In 2019, Christies hosted just four online-only luxury sales in November/December, compared to 20 in the same period of 2020, says BusinessOfFashion.com. By value, those sales rocketed 322%, from $9.5 million last year to just under $40 million this year. Sotheby’s, meanwhile, quadrupled its number of online sales and quintupled its total, says BoF.
Online price thresholds also have risen dramatically. Caroline Ervin, head of e-commerce for Christie’s jewelry department, told BoF that prior to 2020, the online ceiling for sales typically was around $20,000; this year, 25 lots sold for more than $100,000 and one—a 28-86-carat diamond ring—sold for $2.1 million.
Related: Auction Houses Online: A Competitive Game Changer For Luxury Jewelers
But consumers don’t have to wait till a major sale, says Shor. “It’s a myth that everything in an auction is an estate sale that came from Lady So-and-So.” A great deal of the jewelry sold by the auction houses are consignments or specifically made for the auction houses, and private sales are a huge part of business. Essentially, says Shor, it’s another retailer with a very strong online component. In that regard, it’s not unlike 1stDibs, a high-end online platform for luxury furniture, art, and jewelry, which BoF says also had a year-on-year increase of 30% in 2020.
Sotheby's jewelry homepage looks less like an auction listing and more like any other luxury jeweler.