The Tamesis
Earlier this month, Christie’s promoted Kimberly Miller to global managing director of its luxury goods business, a move that comes as the category continues to outperform much of the auction market.
In December, the company reported that luxury sales increased 30% in the first half of last year compared with the same period in 2024. The growth came despite the company’s overall performance remaining flat in the first half. This momentum carried through the rest of the year. In November in Geneva, the Mellon Blue (a huge diamond) sold for $25.6 million, making it the most expensive jewelry at auction in 2025. The result pushed sales for the week up 24% compared with 2024. All told, Christie’s luxury goods sales reached $795 million in 2025, a 17% increase from the previous year. This increase far exceeds last year’s overall increase of 7%.
Related articles
Miller moves into the global role after serving as regional managing director for luxury goods in the Americas, overseeing strategy and performance for jewelry, watches, wine and handbags. In that role, she helped expand the company’s footprint in high-end collectibles and luxury automobiles by helping California-based automotive auction company Gooding & Company integrate it into Christie’s following its acquisition in 2022. She also led the relaunch of New York wine auctions, including the sale of billionaire Bill Koch’s wine cellar, which brought in nearly $30 million and became the most successful single-collection wine auction in North American history.
Jewelry is another key driver. Christie’s sold nine of the ten most expensive pieces of jewelry at auction last year, including a $72 million “Magnificent Jewels” sale in Geneva in May this year that was all sold out.
After 15 years at Christie’s, Miller now leads the auction house’s global luxury goods business, working with teams in Geneva, Hong Kong, London, New York and Paris. art news Sit down with Miller to discuss her plans to further advance her luxury business.
The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
art news: While the luxury category continues to perform strongly, art sales have softened in recent years. How does Christie’s see luxury goods fitting into its wider business model?
Kimberly Miller: Christie’s views luxury goods as a stabilizer and strategic growth engine within our wider business model. It’s always a critical entry point for new customer engagement and acquisition. Our jewelry, watches, wine and handbags categories have broader cultural familiarity and span a range of price points, which often makes them more suitable for first-time buyers. For many people, bidding on a bottle of wine or a piece of jewelry is an easier entry into the auction world than buying a higher-value piece of art.
Luxury goods thus become an effective entry point into the Christie’s ecosystem, from which clients can move into categories such as fine and decorative arts. The luxury goods industry also continues to perform strongly relative to other industries, although the segment is also undergoing a recalibration after the market peak in 2022. Despite broader corrections driven by macro and microeconomic factors, the category remains significantly above 2020 levels and has shown resilience year over year. This consistency helps offset weakness in certain arts sectors and helps keep overall revenue stable during cyclical downturns.
Christie’s said many new and younger clients are coming in through luxury goods. What’s driving this shift?
This transformation is twofold. First, luxury goods are a broad and approachable entry point for many novice collectors. Second, this is a market uniquely suited to a digitally driven environment—a trend that accelerated significantly in 2020. When the world went into lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, many novice and younger customers used the time to educate themselves on areas of personal interest, with the luxury category proving particularly attractive.
At the same time, digital ecosystems are rapidly transforming. Confidence in online buying has grown and platforms have become more intuitive, so many Gen Z and Millennial collectors now come to Christie’s to stay informed, valuing digital engagement and speed alongside the access, expertise and transparency that auctions offer.
Reflecting this shift, the number of online luxury auctions has more than doubled compared to pre-COVID-19 and continues to be our most consistent sell-through rate. Christie’s has always emphasized education and expertise to build bidder confidence, and we are increasingly supporting self-directed online learning through category-specific collection guides.
Sustainability is also increasingly important to Gen Z and Millennial collectors, and is an integral part of Christie’s business practices today. We are aligned with leading climate groups, have SBTi approval to target a 50% emissions reduction by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050, and are a member of the Gallery Climate Coalition. In the luxury segment, we have expanded our digital range and reduced the printing and distribution of catalogues, while introducing more sustainable packaging for purchased batches.
Is there increasing overlap between luxury buyers and art collectors?
Historically, there’s been a strong overlap – fundamentally, it’s a community fueled by a shared passion for quality, authenticity, storytelling and stewardship. This crossover is especially strong at the highest levels of collecting, as these customers are motivated to purchase the best and rarest items in multiple categories.
At the same time, the luxury category remains highly personalized, with diverse customer segments and motivations. This makes it an interesting and challenging problem, so we tailor content, marketing and experiences to specific audiences rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. This might mean a moderated panel discussion with independent manufacturers of jewelry and watches one day, a curated wine dinner the next, or a private gallery tour for fine art clients. This allows us to naturally drive engagement across categories while maintaining the integrity of each category.
Sotheby’s is expanding aggressively in the Middle East. How is Christie’s expanding into the region?
Christie’s has always taken a client-centric approach to development, and this philosophy guides our view of the Middle East. Rather than creating programs for our own benefit, we focus on meeting collectors and supporting them in a local and authentic way.
In addition to our watch auctions and category sponsorships in Dubai, we also opened an office in Saudi Arabia last year, led by Nour Kelani, marking the first time a major international auction house has established an office in Saudi Arabia. This move reflects both the depth of engagement we are seeing and our commitment to serving our local clients. While we are exploring future auction and private sale plans, nothing can be announced at this time.
Christie acquired Gooding, adding cars to the mix. How important is this category?
Just one year after the acquisition, the automotive category quickly became a significant contributor to Christie’s overall luxury sales and an important growth area. In Gooding Christie’s first year of selling cars, the division had its highest revenue year since 2003, bringing in more than $234 million across four auctions. Looking ahead, we are excited to expand Gooding Christie’s into Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2026.
You led the relaunch of New York wine auctions. What does this reveal about collector behavior?
The relaunch of wine sales emphasizes the inherent connection of wine collecting to community and shared experiences. The William I. Koch Collection achieved a record $28.8 million at auction, reflecting strong demand across regions and price points, with a clear preference for online auctions due to speed and convenience. We are also seeing continued demand for experiential auction venues that connect wine or spirits with producers and manufacturers.
As luxury grows, how do you ensure it doesn’t overshadow Christie’s identity as an art institution?
Luxury goods complement, rather than compete with, Christie’s identity as an art institution. When we maintain the same level of scholarship, provenance and connoisseurship in every category, Luxury expands our audience reach and deepens the overall engagement with Christie’s.
Finally, how will news about LMVH’s share price decline and a slower-than-expected recovery in the luxury goods market impact Christie’s luxury goods business?
I think the likelihood of a significant impact on Christie’s luxury goods business is moderate to low. Auction dynamics differ from those in the primary market, and while LVMH and Kering are industry leaders, their recent results have been dominated by their fashion, leather goods and China operations. By comparison, their jewelry and watches division (more comparable to Christie’s auction categories) grew 8% during the quarter. Christie’s Luxury Goods also achieved strong sales and sell-out rates in the second half of the year, with auction volumes up 17% compared to FY24.
Much of Christie’s luxury business is driven by the high-end market, where demand for ultra-rare, high-value items remains strong. An obvious example is the Marie-Thérèse pink diamond, which sold in New York in June this year for $14 million against an estimate of $5-7 million. Provenance, quality, rarity and beauty continued to drive bidding, while luxury private sales also performed strongly. Although growth has slowed since 2022, the market remains above 2020 levels, and I remain cautiously optimistic about the year ahead despite continued economic uncertainty.
