PARIS – Following a stellar yr for luxury resale at Christie’s, the auction house has named a latest global managing director for the activity: Emmanuel Danan, a former L’Oréal executive, joined the firm earlier this month to oversee its luxury sales, including jewelry, watches, wine and purses, based in Paris.

His remit includes overseeing each live and online auctions in addition to private sales, working with specialist departments in Latest York, London, Geneva, Paris and Hong Kong.

Last yr, Christie’s sold jewelry, watches, wine and purses globally for a cumulated sum of nearly $1 billion. It claims that luxury purchases are the main point of entry for brand spanking new customers, and are a serious driver for its digital sales platform, making up greater than half of lots offered online.

Major lots sold last yr at Christie’s included the biggest white diamond ever offered at auction, at 228.31 carats, which went under the hammer for $21.7 million, and The Fortune Pink, a pear-shaped, vivid pink diamond that sold for $28.8 million. It also sold handbags and other accessories for a complete of $32.8 million.

In his latest role, Danan reports to Francis Belin, president of Christie’s Asia Pacific, who oversees Christie’s luxury activity in addition to the Asian and World Art departments globally.

He joins Christie’s from beauty company Maesa, controlled by Bain Capital Private Equity, where he was president of its activity in Europe and the Middle East.

Prior to that, he spent 17 years at L’Oréal, including as France-based head of L’Oréal Paris for Western Europe and in various general management positions in Taipei, Düsseldorf and Shanghai.