In the case of your demise, what happens to your luxury collection?

Well, at least they will stay in the OF family.

For a couple of days maybe...

Some years ago I listed all my watches with full descriptions, some key images, and their replacement value and lodged the list with my home contents insurer (along with my wife's jewellery and other collecting stuff). It took a while, and needs to be regularly updated, but at least I know that if the house burns down the insurer has all the details they need to pay out without argument.

I copy those same lists to a folder with instructions for my wife/kids/executors on my death. For the watches, I have included instructions on how best to sell them (which auction houses, and how to ensure they use good descriptions for the auction listings).

It is worth it to me to ensure that in the inevitable messiness that follows a death in the family, at least the disposal of the watches can go ahead in an organised way.

As for insurance, the listings paid off when during a house removal the removal truck caught fire. Because the insurance assessor had a fully described and illustrated list of the valuables, they paid up without any questions.

Tell the beneficiaries who to contact in the case of your demise. Friends who are into the hobby and you trust well.

It's great leaving a spreadsheet with models and values etc but imagine the chore of going through that after the beloved irreplaceable father/hero husband is gone. Selling can be tricky for hard core collectors, a noob is bound to get taken advantage of.

Mine will be sold and each member in good standing of OF will get an equal share.
So you each have $5. US coming 👍

Don’t spend it all in one place 😁

Although a lot of responses tend to laugh off this subject, people generally don't like to think about their own death, it's a fairly serious subject to anyone who has substantial money invested in any area (watches, jewelry, art, coins, whatever). If you don't have someone that you trust to liquidate your collection it does run the risk of being scattered to the winds at 5 cents on the dollar, or stolen, or worse. To some souls this is no big deal as they won't be around, so who cares? Others care deeply about what happens to their collections, it's important to them because of all the time and care and money they put into putting the collection together. So everyone should do what is important to them. If you want it passed on, or liquidated to maximize value, then make those plans and have them all written and documented, and have someone you trust, or pay, to oversee the operation. To those that don't care, don't do anything, your stuff will get scattered one way or the other.

I keep a binder with all our valuables (mostly watches and jewelry) photographed with spreadsheets describing the piece, purchase value and date, and realistic current market value. For the watches each watch is assigned a number which appears on each photograph, and that number matches the spreadsheet, and that number is put on each watch box/paperwork. So all anyone has to do is match the watch to the picture, get the box that has that number, and you have the complete package. Whether it gets liquidated properly is always the unknown.

All I would recommend is to think about how important the value is to your estate and go from there. Do the work, live well and hope for a long, healthy life. You never know when the end will come.

Each of my kids will get to pick one watch from the collection, my great granddad's Illinois will go to my middle son, the rest will be sold.