Free tool / Tesseract Research
Are alternative assets a good investment?
Ten years of return, risk and liquidity for sixteen assets people are told to put money into, from whisky and watches to gold and bitcoin, lined up against a plain S&P 500 index fund.
The short version
- Over the last ten years a boring S&P 500 index fund beat almost every "passion" asset, and did it with daily liquidity and near zero cost.
- Only bitcoin clearly won, and it did so with stomach-churning swings. Whisky, gold and watches kept pace; most of the rest did not.
- The famous "stores of value", jewellery, fancy furniture, and ordinary diamonds, lost money after inflation.
- Every headline number below is flattered: it ignores auction fees, storage, and the losers that quietly drop out of the indices.
The pattern is hard to miss. The assets sold hardest as "investments you can enjoy" mostly delivered mediocre returns, locked your money up for years, and charged a fortune to get in and out. Bitcoin is the loud exception, and it is less a collectible than a high-volatility bet. Whisky, gold and watches did real work. Below them, fine wine, art and coins roughly tracked inflation before fees, and jewellery, antique furniture and ordinary diamonds went backwards in real terms. None of this says collectibles are pointless. It says they are things to own because you want them, with a chance of upside, not because they reliably build wealth.
The full table
Ten years to year-end 2024. "After inflation" subtracts about 3.0% a year of US inflation (CPI). "$10,000 became" compounds the yearly return over ten years. Figures are nominal and before transaction costs unless noted. Daggers (†) mark figures with higher uncertainty, explained under the table.
| Asset | Per year | After inflation | Total, 10 yr | $10,000 became | Liquidity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin †The original cryptocurrency, traded globally | +75% | +72% | +28,000% | $2.8M | Medium |
| S&P 500 benchmark500 largest US companies, dividends reinvested | +13.1% | +10.1% | +243% | $34,300 | Very high |
| Rare whiskyThe 100 rarest single malt bottles at auction | +11.3% | +8.3% | +191.7% | $29,170 | Low |
| Luxury watchesSecondary market Rolex, Patek Philippe, AP | +8.4% | +5.4% | +125.1% | $22,510 | Medium |
| GoldSpot bullion, the global benchmark metal | +8.2% | +5.2% | +119% | $21,900 | Very high |
| HandbagsHermès Birkin and Kelly, top-tier Chanel | +6.3% | +3.3% | +85% | $18,500 | Medium |
| Silver †Spot bullion | +6.3% | +3.3% | +85% | $18,500 | Very high |
| Classic cars †Investment-grade collector cars (HAGI) | +6.2% | +3.2% | +82% | $18,200 | Low |
| Hedge fundsThe average hedge fund, net of fees (HFRI) | +5.0% | +2.0% | +63% | $16,290 | Low |
| Fine wineBlue-chip Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne (Liv-ex) | +4.4% | +1.4% | +54% | $15,400 | Medium |
| Art †Repeat sales at major auction houses | +4.4% | +1.4% | +54% | $15,400 | Very low |
| Rare coins †Rare, historical and investment gold coins | +3.9% | +0.9% | +47% | $14,700 | Low |
| JewellerySigned Cartier, Van Cleef and similar, gold-linked | +2.9% | -0.1% | +33.5% | $13,350 | Low |
| Coloured diamonds †Fancy-colour stones, very rare | +1.1% | -1.9% | +12% | $11,200 | Very low |
| Antique furniture †Antique and design furniture, weakest category | +0.6% | -2.4% | +6% | $10,600 | Very low |
| White diamonds †Certified 1-carat white stones (RapNet) | -2.5% | -5.5% | -22% | $7,800 | Very low |
| US inflation (CPI), reference | +3.0% | 0% | +35% | $13,500 | n/a |
Popular, but harder to measure honestly
These get asked about constantly. We left them out of the chart because the data is thin, inconsistent, or measured over a different period. The direction is real; treat the exact numbers as rough.
The window. Everything is measured over the ten years to the end of 2024, so the assets are compared on the same clock. "Per year" is the compound annual return. The S&P 500 figure includes dividends reinvested. Bitcoin's return is so large it would flatten every other bar, so its bar is capped with a marked end and the real number printed beside it.
Why the headline returns are too kind. Three things quietly inflate collectible returns. First, survivorship: indices for art, whisky and wine track items that kept changing hands, while the bottles and paintings that went nowhere simply fall out of the data. Second, smoothing: these things are priced rarely, from auctions and appraisals, so the line looks calmer than the real risk. Third, costs: auction houses often take 10 to 25% on each side, storage and insurance add up, and a retail diamond can lose 30 to 50% the moment you walk out of the shop. The numbers above include none of that.
What each label means. The asset names are specific indices, not loose categories. "Handbags" means Hermès Birkin and Kelly and a handful of Chanel, not high-street designer bags. "Classic cars" means investment-grade collector cars on the HAGI index, not an old car in a garage. "Watches" means secondary-market prices for Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. "Whisky" means the hundred rarest single-malt bottles, most over $10,000. The short line under each asset in the table tells you exactly what is being measured.
Sources. Collectibles (art, wine, whisky, watches, handbags, classic cars, jewellery, rare coins, coloured diamonds, antique furniture): Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index, 2025 Wealth Report, whose components include Liv-ex for wine, WatchCharts for watches and HAGI for cars. Gold and silver: spot bullion (LBMA / World Gold Council). Bitcoin: CoinGecko and CaseBitcoin. Hedge funds: HFR, HFRI Fund Weighted Composite, net of fees. White diamonds: Rapaport RapNet 1-carat index. S&P 500: total-return series (Slickcharts, Macrotrends). Inflation: US Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI. Farmland: NCREIF. LEGO: Dobrynskaya and Kishilova. Stamps: Stanley Gibbons GB250. Cards: Card Ladder.
Where to be careful (†). Bitcoin's ten-year figure swings wildly with the start and end dates chosen, so read it as "enormous and enormously risky", not a precise number. Classic cars are measured to roughly 2023 to 2024. Art and fine wine are both reported at +54% by the source. Rare coins, coloured diamonds and antique furniture are approximate, and furniture has long been the weakest collectible Knight Frank tracks. Silver is rounded from spot prices.
Not advice. This is a research-framed comparison of historical data, not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Past performance does not predict future results.
Static dataset, compiled June 2026 from the sources above. Last full year of data: 2024.
Is each one actually a good investment?
Over the ten years to 2024, a plain S&P 500 index fund beat almost every alternative asset, with daily liquidity and near zero cost. Only bitcoin clearly won, and it did so with extreme volatility. Whisky, gold and watches kept pace; most other collectibles lagged or lost money after fees and inflation.
Are alternative assets a good investment?
Over the ten years to 2024, a plain S&P 500 index fund beat almost every alternative asset, with daily liquidity and near zero cost. Only bitcoin clearly won, and it did so with extreme volatility. Whisky, gold and watches kept pace; most other collectibles lagged or lost money after fees and inflation.
Is gold a good investment?
Gold returned about 8.2% a year over the past decade, ahead of inflation but behind the S&P 500's roughly 13%. It is highly liquid and tends to hold value in crises, but it pays no income and produces nothing.
Is art a good investment?
Art returned about 4.4% a year, roughly tracking inflation before costs. Auction commissions of 10 to 25% and months to sell push the real return lower. It is better owned for enjoyment than as a wealth-builder.
Are luxury watches a good investment?
Secondary-market watches from Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet returned about 8.4% a year over the decade, driven by a few icon models. The market cooled sharply after its 2022 peak.
Do alternative assets beat stocks?
Rarely, over the last decade. Only bitcoin beat the S&P 500, and it did so with far higher risk. Most collectibles underperformed once fees, storage, and survivorship bias are counted.
Why are collectible returns usually overstated?
Three biases inflate them: survivorship, since items that went nowhere drop out of the indices; smoothing, since rare pricing hides real volatility; and costs, since auction fees, storage, and insurance are left out of headline figures.
What is the best-performing alternative asset?
Over the past ten years, bitcoin by a wide margin, then rare whisky among traditional collectibles. Both come with heavy risk, and past performance does not predict future results.
The boring index beat the passion assets. The hard part is knowing what to actually own.
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