1300 522 808
You’ve just bought a Blancpain Villeret Moonphase & Complete Calendar watch, and it’s taken its privileged spot in your growing collection. But before you strap it to your wrist for its first public outing, you need one thing: insurance.
The world of luxury watches is glamorous, true. It’s inhabited by characters like James Bond and Jacques Cousteau. Why would the world’s most exciting adventurers (even fictional ones) bother themselves with something as prosaic as...insurance?
One reason. And you’ll relate to this as well. When your watch is insured, you can wear it effortlessly, as its manufacturer intended.
What do you need to know about insuring your luxury watch?
Periodic Valuations are Essential
Watch values change over time (usually upward). When you know your timepiece’s worth, you can arrange for sufficient cover. Market variations could mean that your cover doesn’t keep up. Imagine being underinsured when you have to make a claim for your Rolex.
One of the benefits of periodic valuations is that you always have current provenance and ownership documentation. This can be useful if you sell the watch or hand it down to an heir. Here at JewelCover, we provide complimentary annual revaluations to our customers, so you always know you have sufficient cover.
Clasps and Bands Matter
During valuations, jewellery experts always check clasps and bands, whether they’re original to the timepiece or not. Why? Watch insurers want to know the strap’s condition, whether it’s a handmade Italian leather strap or a Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris bracelet, because it helps prevent loss and damage.
Will your current leather strap keep your Rolex Cosmograph Daytona firmly banded to your wrist? Incidentally, the value of luxury manufacture-signed straps for watches like Omega’s Planet Ocean Master Chronometer can approach the timepiece’s value. So keep those clasps in good working order and check them regularly.
Home and Contents Insurance:
Yes or No?
Off-the-shelf cover works if your watch collection consists of a few Seikos and a Tag Heuer Formula 1. Depending on your policy’s specified valuables limit, you may need to specify any luxury watches. For standard timepieces that fall within the insurer’s specified-item threshold, home and contents may suffice (but you’ll need to read your policy to be sure).
However, your contents policy probably won’t restore or replace your Rolex Yacht Master II in the event of a claim. Specialised luxury watch insurance steps in to fully protect your treasured timepiece. Our watch insurance is designed specifically to handle the full value of your Rolex or Patek Philippe
Read more about watch and jewellery insurance vs. home and contents insurance here.
Insurance Doesn’t Replace
Watch Servicing
Luxury watches are complex (and beautiful) pieces of machinery. And just like fine automobiles, they require service from time to time. Whether you have a vintage IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar or a brand new Arnold & Son Globetrotter Night (have you seen this magnificent creation?), it wants fine-tuning occasionally.
Some manufacturers require regular servicing to maintain their warranties. It’s essential to keep in mind that warranties and insurance are separate. Warranties protect against manufacturer defects; insurance protects against theft, loss and damage. While both important, they address different issues.
Arranging for Watch Insurance
As mentioned earlier, insurance seems like another boring thing we have to deal with, but protecting your go-to timepiece is worth arranging. Is it complicated? Not if we have anything to do with it.
We’ll take you on a quick run-through of the process:
Get an Instant Quote
Before you do anything else, find out how much a policy will set you back. You’ll be surprised at how affordable it is to protect your Vacheron Constantin. By filling out this form, you can get your quote quickly.
Provide Documentation
If you decide to go ahead with the policy, we’ll need some documentation about your watch: a receipt, pictures and so forth. If you don’t have a receipt, call us, and we’ll work out an alternative.
Read Through the Policy
When you start your insurance, make sure you understand the details, including how to submit a claim in case of loss.When you’re satisfied, you can purchase a policy.
Pay Your Premium
As soon as you pay your premium, your luxury watch is fully protected, and you can wear it with the confidence of James Bond or Jacques Cousteau. You’ll know that, come what may, you have these benefits:
- 12 months worldwide cover
- Protection inside and outside your home
- Instant cover as soon as the policy is paid
- An agreed value policy
- Return to your chosen watchmaker/jeweller for repairs or replacement
- Complimentary annual revaluation
Now, with your watch insured, let’s go travelling. Because you can, you know. Like any respectable international spy, you’ll need your Rolex DateJust to keep your missions operational. So we’ll send you off with a few helpful tips.
- Never put your Audemar Piguet in your checked baggage.
- Wear your watch or keep it in your hand luggage.
On arrival, use your hotel’s central safe instead of leaving it in your room while you’re away.
If you get mugged, remember: Rolexes are replaceable; you aren’t.
For questions about our watch insurance, ring us at 1300 522 808 or drop us a line. We look forward to providing your favourite timepiece with the protection it needs so you can enjoy it to the fullest.
