What is your strategy for Bonhams US jewelry division?
I joined the company on November 1. I have been in the New York salesroom, in the Los Angeles salesroom, the Hong Kong salesroom trying to get an overview of how the company works, what the strengths and weaknesses are — and I think that overall, Bonhams has a long reputation of offering good-quality gemstones and jewelry in these markets. My job really is to grow and develop this further within the realm of the United States and Asia. I have been put on the Asian board and the American board, and in that capacity, I will have a strong voice for the jewelry department of Bonhams.
How would you define the different markets?
The Asian [jewelry auction] market is a growing market, albeit, even at 40 years, still a fairly young market. So the clients are evolving, and their tastes are changing at a rapid pace. What you could offer when I first started in the business 25 years ago is no longer viable. Clients have become more sophisticated, and they will continue to do so. However, they do have a larger appetite for modern jewels [and] for contemporary designs, and a strong affinity for signed jewelry. Not that the US doesn’t, but I think it’s more important in Asia that they have a stronger brand recognition.
What about diamonds?
Diamonds are, of course, ubiquitous. The world demands them. As China evolves, and its vast potential for a middle class evolves, there will be no shortage of demand for diamonds. It’s a bit of a contrast with the millennial generation, which tends to value experiences rather than material pursuits, whereas in Asia, and [particularly in] Southeast Asia, jewels are part of the culture. You go to India, where giving gold is ingrained, part of their yearly calendar — so I think maybe not to the same extent as India, [the rest of] Asia is still a very strong growth market for jewelry.
How do you attract new demographics to Bonhams?
First, we are uniquely placed in the US in that we have two functioning salesrooms, east coast and west coast. We have a very strong presence on the west coast, having acquired Butterfields auctioneers [in 2002], which had over 100 years of history in California. So we get a large amount of material from the western half of the United States because of that. That allows us to develop the relationship we already have and bring new, younger people into the fold. That is a regular component of auctions, or any business: You need to bring the next generation. We do that through education and outreach in each of our locations.
In addition to workshops and events, we reach out to specific groups who have an interest in jewelry, or provide a unique way to reach their clients, through an educational event. For instance, we work very closely with lawyers in the trust estate; the outreach gives them a reason to contact the client. It’s a very good symbiotic relationship that we have with the professional market.
What jewelry trends are you seeing?
Although Art Deco remains very popular because it’s easy to identify for most people, there are emerging trends where enough time has passed. When I started in the business 25 years ago, 1960s and 1970s jewelry was very frowned upon, or, say, looked down upon. It’s becoming very chic again.
Now [nearly] 40 years have passed since the 1980s, and 1980s jewelry is starting to be popular again, and that’s a fairly new trend emerging. Not all of it, because it was big, bright and bold jewelry, and we’re getting calls for that. It’s a bit early to call it a full-fledged trend, but if there’s enough people with an interest in it, we can say that’s emerging.
Image: BonhamsArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - January 2019. To subscribe click here.