The gold of Varna
In the necropolis of Varna on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the dead are buried with numerous gold objects. The find is regarded as one of the oldest worked gold treasures in the world.
Jewellery · Watches · Luxury Goods
Value,with a connoisseur’s eye.
vonire tells the story of the most beautiful things in the world and explains what makes them valuable. With background, market data and tools you can try out for yourself.
€358bnGlobal market for personal luxury goods in 2025Bain & Altagamma 2025
around 340 millionLuxury buyers worldwide in 2025 (2022: around 400 million)Bain & Altagamma 2025
CHF 25.6bnSwiss watch exports in 2025 (−1.7%)FH 2026
$3,431.5per troy ounce of gold, 2025 annual average (+44%)LBMA/World Gold Council
€358bnGlobal market for personal luxury goods in 2025Bain & Altagamma 2025around 340 millionLuxury buyers worldwide in 2025 (2022: around 400 million)Bain & Altagamma 2025CHF 25.6bnSwiss watch exports in 2025 (−1.7%)FH 2026$3,431.5per troy ounce of gold, 2025 annual average (+44%)LBMA/World Gold Council17%of all Swiss watch exports went to the USA in 2025FH, watch exports 2025$2,018was the average export price of a Swiss watch in 2025FH, The Watch Industry Worldwide 2025$172bnwas spent by buyers worldwide on gold jewellery in 2025: a record, even though volume fell by 18% to 1,542 tonnesWorld Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends 202546 to 47%of the market for personal luxury goods in 2025 is accounted for by the highest-spending ‘big spenders’Bain & Altagamma 2025
Sections
Three worlds, one standard.
Jewellery, watches and luxury goods: each section answers the questions connoisseurs ask, and the ones people do not dare to ask.
01
Jewellery
Diamonds, precious metals and craftsmanship: recognising quality before you fall in love.
To the section
02
Watches
Movements, complications and care: the knowledge behind the dial.
To the section
03
Luxury Goods
Leather goods, pre-owned and the market behind them: luxury with a clear eye.
To the sectionMagazine
New in the magazine
Lab-grown or natural diamond: what sets them apart and what doesn’t
Chemically, both are diamond, and to the naked eye they cannot be told apart. There are still differences: in how they are made and labelled, in price and on resale.
Automatic, manual-wind or quartz: which movement suits whom
Three drives, three temperaments. How the mainspring barrel, balance wheel and quartz oscillator work, and which type suits your daily life and your expectations.
Cost per wear: how to do the maths on luxury with a clear head
A watch for every day, a bag for a handful of evenings: what a piece really costs only becomes clear when you calculate it across its entire use. Even that calculation has its limits.
333, 585, 750: what the stamp in your gold tells you
Three digits inside a ring determine its colour, durability, skin compatibility and material value. How to read the marks, and what they don’t reveal.
Chronometer, COSC and METAS: what the tests really measure
There is one word on the dial, and behind it lie days in a testing laboratory. What a chronometer certificate tells you, and what it does not.
The luxury market in figures: who is buying, what is growing
Bain & Altagamma, the Swiss watch industry federation FH and the World Gold Council provide the most robust figures in the sector. What they reveal about buyers, markets, tariffs and gold.
Exclusive · Atelier
Design your piece.
Choose metal, stone and cut and watch your ring take shape in real time. In the Watch Atelier you combine case, dial and strap.
Economics, interactive
How much gold is in your jewellery?
Weight and stamp are all it takes. The calculator shows the fine gold content and material value, and in the full tool also for silver and platinum.
Stamp (fineness in parts per thousand)
Fine gold
Material value
Fine goldSilver, copper, palladium and others
Luxury Monitor
The market in figures
Recognised sources, clearly presented. Every figure with its date and origin.
0Global market for personal luxury goods in 2025Source: Bain & Altagamma 2025
0Luxury buyers worldwide in 2025 (2022: around 400 million)Source: Bain & Altagamma 2025
0Swiss watch exports in 2025 (−1.7%)Source: FH 2026
0per troy ounce of gold, 2025 annual average (+44%)Source: LBMA/World Gold Council
Global market for personal luxury goods
€bnApparel, leather goods, shoes, jewellery, watches, eyewear and beauty at retail value. Bain estimates based on company data and expert interviews; previous years adjusted retrospectively (as of June 2026). 2025: −2% at current and +1% at constant exchange rates.
Source: Bain & Company / Altagamma, Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study (Nov. 2025 and Spring 2026)
All data in the Luxury Monitor
The global market for personal luxury goods, Swiss watch exports with their largest markets, and the gold price since 2015.
Open the Luxury MonitorKnowledge
Knowledge you can touch
Test yourself in the Connoisseur Quiz, let a diamond grow or measure the accuracy of your watch.
4C Explorer
Understand carat, colour, clarity and cut interactively.
Accuracy Calculator
Measure your watch and compare it with COSC and METAS.
Complications Explorer
From the date to the minute repeater: what the extra functions do.
Ring Size Converter
Circumference, diameter and international sizes at a glance.
Did you know?
Timeline
From antiquity to today
Goldsmiths, watchmakers and gem cutters have made history. A short journey in stages.
Etruscan granulation
Etruscan goldsmiths decorate brooches and earrings with thousands of tiny gold beads. The technique is older, but in their hands it reaches a fineness that is still admired today.
The ring for Mary of Burgundy
Archduke Maximilian of Austria gives his fiancée Mary of Burgundy a ring set with diamonds. It is regarded as the earliest recorded diamond engagement ring.
The balance spring
Christiaan Huygens presents the spring for the balance, while Robert Hooke also claims the idea. As a result, pocket watches become much more accurate.
Patent for the tourbillon
On 26 June 1801, Abraham-Louis Breguet is granted a French patent for his rotating escapement cage. It is meant to compensate for the rate errors that gravity causes when a pocket watch is in a vertical position.
A watch for the wrist
Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, orders a watch from Breguet on a bracelet of hair and gold thread; it is delivered in 1812. It is regarded as one of the first documented wristwatches, although the wristwatch did not catch on until the early 20th century.
Diamonds in South Africa
Near Hopetown on the Orange River, a pebble is identified as a diamond and later named ‘Eureka’. The finds that follow around Kimberley make South Africa the leading diamond producer for decades.
Tolkowsky’s ‘Diamond Design’
Marcel Tolkowsky calculates proportions that give a round brilliant particularly high brilliance and fire. His figures still shape the modern brilliant cut today.
The colour scale from D to Z
The Gemological Institute of America introduces its international diamond grading system based on the 4Cs. The colour scale deliberately starts at D to set itself apart from older, inconsistent systems.
The first lab-grown diamond
In December 1954, researchers at General Electric achieve the reproducible production of diamonds under high pressure and high temperature. The first stones are tiny and intended for industry; jewellery quality only becomes economical decades later.
Quartz on the wrist
On 25 December 1969, the Seiko Astron goes on sale in Tokyo as the first quartz wristwatch. In the 1970s, quartz technology triggers a crisis that shakes the mechanical watch industry to its foundations.
Lab-grown diamonds are diamonds
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) removes the word ‘natural’ from its definition of a diamond. Under the US guidelines, lab-grown diamonds therefore count as diamonds, but their origin must be clearly disclosed.
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Visible where decisions about value are made.
vonire reaches people who take an interest in jewellery, watches and luxury goods, often shortly before they make a decision. For jewellers, watch dealers, manufactures, auction houses and pre-owned specialists, we offer placements that fit the editorial context.
- Partner articles and sponsored content, clearly labelled
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