New markets for liquefying investment diamonds

Following the success of its online sales participation, Sotheby’s has announced that it has advanced its digital strategy with a new online salesroom and bidding platform features, including private messaging, along with enhanced video streaming. The site has been optimized to support hundreds of thousands of concurrent video attendees without loss of timing or delay.

The auction house said that after five months and 113 sales in which all online bidding on Sothebys.com and eBay.com/sothebys has been delivered through a partnership with Invaluable, it has seen a substantial increase in online participation compared to the equivalent period in 2014.

The partnership has seen the number of collectors bidding online increase nearly 55 percent, leading to a 35-percent increase in the value of successful bids.

“The technology integrates seamlessly into our web-bidding platforms, helping us to grow the e-commerce portion of our business and attract new clients who enjoy the convenience and accessibility that real-time online bidding provides. Over the course of 113 sales, we have seen rapidly-increasing engagement translating into significant growth and new auction records,” said Sotheby’s chief digital officer, David Goodman.

Jewelry heads the list of online purchases since the start of the Sotheby’s/Invaluable partnership, including a platinum and diamond ring that sold for $3.25 million. Other top lots include a fancy light pink diamond and diamond ring and a platinum, diamond and sapphire ring, which sold for $1.93 million each. The sales all took place at the April Magnificent Jewels, New York auction.