Jewelry ranks as top luxury item among wealthy

London--Jewelry is the most widely collected luxury item in the world among the wealthy, although in North America it ranks third behind art and watches, according to The Wealth Report 2014.

The Wealth Report is conducted annually by London-based independent property consultancy company Knight Frank, and is a commentary on global prime property markets, wealth distribution and investment sentiment.

This year’s survey is more comprehensive than ever, Knight Frank said, reflecting the attitudes of more than 23,000 UHNWIs (ultra-high net worth individuals) with an average worth of $68 million each, and a combined wealth of more than $1.5 trillion.

Jewelry ranked as the top “investment of passion” for the wealthy in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Russia. It was the third most widespread investment of passion in Australia and North America, and the fourth in Europe.

Watches as an investment of passion ranked third globally and fell in second or third in every region except Australia, where it ranked sixth.

Diamonds ranked as the third greatest investment of passion in Asia, and fell into fourth, fifth or sixth place in every other region. The stones ranked fifth globally.

While personal pleasure is cited by 61 percent of the world’s wealthy as the main reason why they collect so-called investments of passion, they are also hopeful those investments will not lose value and consider it an investment for capital growth (16 percent).

Another 15 percent say these investments are for status (15 percent), are a “safe haven” (6 percent) or are purchased merely for the sake of fashion (1 percent).

As wealth increases worldwide, so do levels of spending on luxury goods.

A total of 36 percent of respondents from the Wealth Report’s Attitudes Survey, conducted among UHNWI’s advisors and private bankers, said their clients will continue to spend more in 2014, with the sentiment most bullish in Africa (46 percent) and most cautious in Europe (30 percent), the report stated.

When asked how their clients’ net worth had changed on average in 2013, 75 percent of the advisors and bankers said it had increased while only 4 percent reported that it had dropped.

In North America, 81 percent of respondents reported an increase in net worth among their clients.

Almost two-thirds of advisors and bankers said their clients are positive about wealth creation prospects in 2014. Only 4 percent said their clients were