There is good news for collectors of scarce and very expensive items out there. Routinely over the past 12 months, the Sotheby’s Auction House has achieved sales results individually which are significantly higher than pre-auction estimates. This points to a new trend of where liquid investment dollars are being placed by the super wealthy.
This article shows some of the incredible pieces and where the results have ended up: http://www.businessinsider.com/sothebys-auction-items-2010-4#brilliant-cut-rare-blue-diamond-geneva–23-million-1
Here is a link to the Sotheby’s website which shows all results. These numbers are mystifying: http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/event/EventResultsLanding.jsp