The Luxury Investment Index 2020: discover the world's most-coveted items

Classic cars  

Dietrich Hatlapa, HAGI  

Following strong outperformance between 2012 and 2016, this year saw the HAGI Top index fall by 6.69% – although the long-term average remains above 12%. The environmental debate and potential legal changes led to uncertainty among buyers, although collectors with an asset allocation towards the sector continued to acquire high quality examples. Stand-out sales included Niki Lauda’s 1975 World Championship Ferrari 312T, which sold at Pebble Beach in August, the McLaren F1 sold at Monterey and the 1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B sold at Artcurial, Paris. What was also notable, though, was the large number of cars that remained unsold. 

Wine 

Nick Martin, Wine Owners 

The fine wine market registered growth of just 1% in 2019, political unrest and economic uncertainty combining to create a perfect storm. Bordeaux first The results of our unique Luxury Investment Index reveal the most coveted objects of desire in 2019, while our data partners offer their insights on a selection of its asset classes Objects of Desire growths fell by 3.6%, while the top of the Burgundy market reached new peaks early in the year before falling away. But at the level below the most sought-after Burgundies, the best wines enjoyed relatively strong demand and champagne and northern Italian wines were up 6%–8%. The bigger picture is positive, too: despite a lacklustre 2019, The Knight Frank Fine Wine Icons Index has risen by 120% in the last decade. 

Art  

Veronika Lukasova-Duthy,  Art Market Research

2019 was the fourth consecutive year that overall individual artist records fell, while record sums were paid for works by living artists – such as Jeff Koons’ stainless steel Rabbit, which sold for US$91 million in May. With a rise of around 5% this year, the art market continues to adapt to a slowing supply of works by Impressionists and Modern masters. Other winners in contemporary sales were urban artists Invader, who broke the US$1 million mark at auction for the first time with the tile mosaic TK_119, and Banksy, whose painting Devolved Parliament sold for around five times the artist’s previous record in 2008. 

Whisky  

Andy Simpson, Rare Whisky 101  

Significant over-supply and a softening in values for the market leader, The Macallan, made for a challenging start to the year, reflected in a half-year fall of 2.67% in our Knight Frank Index. As supply eased, the second half of 2019 fared much better, and the Index finished the year up 5%. Significant trends included the emergence of challenger brands in the secondary market, and growing interest in sherried Scotch. Collectors continued to seek out the oldest, rarest examples from iconic distilleries such as Dalmore, Springbank, Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Bowmore and Brora, and casks remained in huge demand. But, just as in 2018, the headlines belong to The Macallan, with a bottle of the distillery’s 1926 Fine & Rare fetching £1.2 million at Sotheby’s in October. 

Coloured diamonds  

Miri Chen, Fancy Color Research Foundation  

Bucking the trend of the past two years, yellow diamonds performed well as declining prices made them more accessible to the end client. While high-end pink and blue diamonds performed very well on the retail side, auction prices appeared low, reflecting the inferior quality of many of the coloured diamonds that find their way to auction. The real action here is at retail level, behind closed doors, where the goods sold tend to be of better quality and so fetch higher prices. Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see what happens to Argyle diamonds, with the mine set to close in 2020.