Here are two examples of major auctions sure to offer a temperature reading on the spending habits of ultra-wealthy individuals in Asia and beyond.

The auction season is already promising to be a busy one this spring, with Sotheby's Hong Kong banging the drum to attract attention for its 4 - 5 April evening sale of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art, while another auction of jewellery promises to set the pulses racing.

The Southeast Asian art auction features more than 250 lots of art and comes with a total estimate of more than $11.5 million.

The global auctioneer says these sales will be the largest Southeast Asian auctions it has ever held. They will be led by modern Indonesian and Filipino works: Hendra Gunawan’s Pandawa Dadu (The Dice Game from the Mahabharata Epic), one of only two large-format works on the Hindu epic by the artist ever to appear in the market; and Muslim Betrothal by Carlos Villaluz Francisco, the most iconic masterpiece by the national artist of the Philippines ever to appear at auction.

Separately, Sotheby’s Hong Kong magnificent jewels and jadeite spring sale 2015 will take place on 6 April at Hall 5, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. That sale highlights colourless and coloured diamonds, including a 77.77-carat fancy vivid yellow diamond ring and a 23.15-carat DIF type IIa Golconda diamond ring dubbed “The Legend of Golconda”. They will be complemented by a suite of “pigeon’s blood” Burmese ruby by Faidee, a rare triple-strand natural pearl necklace, as well as a jadeite bead necklace.  

There is also a selection of signed jewellery from the 1930s to the present by renowned jewellers including Bulgari, Boucheron, Marina B, as well as Tamsen Z by Ann Ziff, who is represented in the sale by her Renée Fleming Iris Brooch designed specially for the celebrated opera singer. Altogether the sale will offer approximately 320 lots estimated in excess of $99 million.