Living With Wonder

There’s a quiet thrill in living with objects that hold the weight of millennia. In the world of natural history collecting, a meteorite or a fossilised leaf is more than a specimen – it is a fragment of the Earth’s story, both scientifically remarkable and inherently beautiful.

Each July, Sotheby’s Natural History Sales – celebrated during Geek Week in New York – open a window into this unique world. This annual series brings together natural history, science, technology and space exploration in a week of sales unlike any other.

The galleries become a showcase of natural and scientific wonders, where towering dinosaur skeletons, gleaming meteorites and iridescent minerals stand alongside historic instruments charting humanity’s scientific journey. Visitors are free to explore and marvel at these objects before they go under the hammer, and learn the stories behind each – from excavation or orbit to authentication.

A very large gogotte sandstone formation. Photograph: Courtesy of Sotheby’s

History Under The Hammer

By auction day, the atmosphere is charged with excitement, as collectors, curators and enthusiasts assemble – drawn by the chance to own a tangible link to the natural world.

While a mounted dinosaur skeleton will always command attention, the magic of these collections lies in their variety and interest. Alien meteorites, sculptural mineral clusters, pearlescent ammonites and delicate fossil ferns – each piece bridges past and present, letting the beauty of the natural world live on in our daily surroundings.

“Objects are both scientifically and historically important, but they are also really beautiful; they are something that you can live with.”

- Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s Science & Popular Culture

A very large iridescent ammonite. Photograph: Courtesy of Sotheby’s

Living With Wonder

The appeal of these objects stretches far beyond museums or private vaults. A polished meteorite displayed on a coffee table, a quartz cluster in a sunny conservatory or a fossilised ammonite on an office wall can turn a room into a space that inspires curiosity and conversation.

For collectors – and for anyone drawn to the extraordinary – natural history objects reflect the same philosophy that defines exceptional homes: a desire to curate a life filled with beauty, meaning and story. These pieces invite the natural world’s most remarkable narratives into our everyday spaces.

Stellar Highlights from Geek Week 2025

This year’s Geek Week was headlined by treasures that ignited imaginations and bidding wars. A juvenile Ceratosaurus skeleton, one of only four known and the only juvenile, achieved approximately NZ $50.3 million, making it one of the most valuable dinosaur fossils ever sold.

A mounted juvenile Ceratosaurus skeleton, one of only four in the world, sold at Geek Week 2025. Photograph: Courtesy of Sotheby’s

Equally awe‑inspiring, NWA 16788, the largest piece of Mars ever recovered on Earth, fetched around NZ $8.7 million. Alongside these, gem‑quality mineral specimens and crystalline formations added an element of natural sculpture to the sale.

Martian Meteorite - NWA 16788, auctioned at Geek Week 2025. Photograph: Sotheby’s

These objects are a reminder that the art of collecting can also be the art of living with wonder – and that the most exceptional pieces are those that bring the story of the natural world into the heart of home.