Why You Need Valuable Articles Insurance for Your Watches
Adding a new watch to your collection can be a thrilling experience. While it may sound odd to some, “bonding” with a new watch is one of the best parts of bringing home a new timepiece. At the start, you might wear it every day, leaving all your other watches to wait their turn for some “wrist time”. Of course, unless you’re like our Headless Horologist, you’ll only ever wear one watch at a time. So what does that mean for all your other treasured timepieces? Do they sit in a drawer at home when you’re not wearing them?
Of course, while a watch is usually safest at home in storage, even then it is still prone to danger. Fire, flood, break-in, or accidental damage can all befall a watch even when it’s in a safe location. So with all this in mind, how do you protect your collection? The answer is watch insurance! Here are a few reasons why you should get insurance for your luxury timepieces.
Watches Are Prone to Theft
Thieves will always find watches attractive. They are stylish, hard to trace, and easy to sell, making them the perfect target. What’s more, since more people are interested in luxury watches today, there has also been an increase in watch theft and related crimes. Mitigate the risk of owning luxury watches by having insurance and using watch registration services.
You Can’t Rely on Homeowner’s Insurance
If you have a relatively modest watch collection—that is, one that isn’t worth more than $1,500, a standard homeowner’s insurance policy may be sufficient to cover your collection. However, if your collection costs several thousand dollars, you’ll need special coverage. You need a specialized insurance policy to cover any loss adequately.
People with a significant collection should have a valuable articles coverage policy. With this type, you’ll need to separately list and insure your expensive watches up to their market value. With this type of insurance policy, you can protect personal assets and high-value pieces like watches, handbags, jewelry, and antiques.
You Reduce the Risk of Theft During Travel
Luxury watch brands can stand out, especially if you’re on holiday. Frequent travel increases the likelihood of watch theft, damage, or loss since you’ll be staying in places where you might not be familiar with the local risks. Also, if you are traveling, you need to be careful about where you place your watch. Leaving your watch in a hotel safe, for example, is not a surefire way to protect your timepiece. Hotel safes are sometimes portable so anyone with ill-intent might find a way to carry the entire safe instead of attempting to break in on the spot. Finally, many hotels can’t be held responsible for items taken from the in-room safe, closing off another avenue of recourse.
How to Get Watch Insurance
The best place to start for many people is calling their insurance company. Adding coverage to your existing plan is sometimes the easiest way to ensure your collection is covered. Alternately, companies like Chubb Insurance or Jewler’s Mutual specialize in covering jewelry and watch collections. They are the most experienced with valuing your collection and are a great option for many people with large or valuable collections.
Conclusion
Protecting your investment is an important part of owning a watch. Watch theft is common – much more so than many people think. In 2019, a Japanese businessman was robbed of his $900,000 Swiss watch, right outside the hotel in Paris where he was staying. In the same year, a tourist in Ibiza was robbed of a limited-edition piece, estimated to be worth at least $1.2 million. Theft and loss can happen anywhere, and getting an insurance policy to cover your belongings while traveling will put you at ease.
With the right insurance, you may even find yourself wearing your more valuable pieces more often, safe in the knowledge that your watch is protected should something happen to it. These watches are meant to be on your wrist – you should enjoy your purchases, and getting insurance for them lets you do that with peace of mind!
Feldmar Watch has luxury watch brands for all types of connoisseurs. Whether you’re someone who enjoys sports watches or appreciates a more stylish, formal timepiece, we have the best selections for you. Browse our catalog or contact us today for inquiries!
About The Author: Tom Roth
Born in Washington state, Tom developed an interest in photography during college at University of San Diego. There, he got started in music journalism, interviewing artists and taking photos at concerts. A life-long tinkerer and collector, it wasn’t long before Tom became fascinated with fountain pens and watches.
Those interests collided in November 2020 when Tom started at Feldmar Watch Company where he lives out every watch geek’s dream: photographing and writing about timepieces. When he’s not tinkering with his watch collection, Tom can be found traveling, biting his nails while watching PNW sports teams, and taking flying lessons.
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