Suffice it to say, the year that was 2024 a challenging one for those with a penchant for alternative investments.
Fine wine, whisky, and luxury watches all faced significant hurdles that led to plummeting prices as economic pressures, shifting market dynamics and reduced consumer appetite for high-value assets waned.
Below, we take a look at how all three asset classes fared in the year, with a few predictions of what could be in store in the year ahead.
The fine wine market struggled in 2024, with the Liv-ex 100 index, a key industry benchmark, falling by 9.2% by the time December rolled around.
Yet despite the price corrections, market activity increased by 7.9% compared to 2023, indicating sustained interest among investors and collectors.
WineCap, a leading wine investment platform, attributed the price drops to broader economic pressures and ongoing market corrections following years of sustained growth
Unfortunately, low yields in France exacerbated the market’s challenges.
Burgundy’s output fell by 25% and Bordeaux’s by 10%, marking the lowest production levels since 2017. Indicatively, Burgundy saw the steepest price declines, with prices falling 14.4%.
Italy emerged as one of the more resilient regions. The country’s fine wine prices declined only by 6%, bolstered by high-scoring vintages and increased investor interest.
Befitting of this festive time of the year, we can elicit some good news from Champagne.
The sparkling region saw a modest price increase of 0.4% in the third quarter, supported by robust demand for high-quality labels, according to WineCap.
Data shows that investors demonstrated a preference for older vintages from 2010 to 2014, valued for their proven track records and immediate drinkability.
In contrast, newer vintages struggled unless priced competitively.
Top-performing wines in the year included the 2004 Krug Vintage Brut and the 2012 Domaine du Pegau Châteauneuf-du-Pape, both appreciating by over 21%.
Whisky Market Insights
Fine wine was not the only sippable asset to fall in value in 2024.
Noble & Co's Whisky Intelligence Annual Report for 2024 highlighted a big downturn in the secondary whisky market, describing it as a "painful" year for the industry.
Over the 12 months to September 2024, the market saw a 16% decrease in transaction volumes and an 18% drop in value.
These declines accelerated in the second half of the year, underscoring a challenging landscape for buyers and sellers alike.
Premium whiskies faced the brunt of the downturn. Bottles priced above £10,000 experienced sharp reductions in value as sellers delayed sales in anticipation of a market recovery, and buyers hesitated to invest in falling prices.
“Declining volumes, falling prices, and a cautious approach from both buyers and sellers have been defining characteristics of the past year,” said Duncan McFadzen, head of food and drink at Noble & Co.
This, according to McFadzen, was a reflection of the broader luxury goods sector.
2024 also saw the sad demise of the ‘Maltdaq’ secondary whisky market.
“The business had taken an innovative approach when it launched, aiming to be the stock market of the whisky trading world,” said Noble & Co. “It offered live bid and ask prices and saw decent volumes as a result.
“However, the decline in the market meant that it faced an unsustainable future and the founders took the unenviable decision to close
the business.
“Maltdaq had taken a meaningful market share in its short existence, and its collapse is seen clearly in the data we assessed.”
Whisky and wine in 2025
Looking ahead, experts are cautiously optimistic for 2025.
Fine wine is expected to stabilise, with regions like Piedmont, Champagne, and Burgundy poised for recovery, reckons WineCap.
Similarly, the whisky market’s underlying fundamentals – driven by global interest in aged spirits and increasing affluence in emerging markets – remain strong, according to Noble & Co.
But to call sentiment optimistic would be incorrect.
“The positive signs from a macro perspective would be reduced inflation and easing monetary policy, but strong performances from other asset classes and a continued reduced consumer appetite suggests secondary markets for whisky may remain challenging in the near future,” said Noble & Co.
Watches dial back
Luxury watch prices on the secondary markets continued to underperform in 2024, marking the third year in a row of losses.
In October, prices flopped to a two-year low and have only marginally improved since, per the Bloomberg x Subdial Index.
Like much of the wider luxury sector, declining Chinese demand weighed on the secondary watch market throughout the year.
Aligning with poor secondary watch prices, year-on-year Swiss watch exports were also down.
In October, exports fell 2.8% year on year, according to UBS. While this was a substantial improvement from September’s 13% decline, it still exposed a sector suffering negative sales growth.
Yet glimmers of a revival have emerged.
In a December trading update, Rolex merchant Watches of Switzerland Group PLC (LSE:WOSG) unveiled an uptick in revenue through the first half of the year, owing to progressive improvements across the US and UK markets.
Following three years of sequential declines, one can only hope that the bottom is finally in, although a lot will hinge on a resurgence in demand in the Chinese market.
As for the most-popular pieces in 2024, the list, as compiled by Chrono24, was topped by the Rolex GMT-Master II, followed by the Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch.
Pieces from Patek Philippe, Tudor, Vacheron, Cartier and Audemars Piguet also made the list.