Was going to use secursus but they only ensure watch that are sold. They won't ensure it if you are sending a watch for a repair thought that odd.
However, the watchmaker did need to pay import duty on the declared value, which he passed on to me. I guess if the watch has no value, there may be no customs duty; but then what is the insurance value? This is the problem with market value vs replacement value.
Some countries will insist you pay the duties and taxes up front, just in case you don't send it back. But when you do, you should be able to claim the money back by providing proof that the watch was indeed shipped back to the owner, so your watchmaker should have been able to claim that back from their government.
Actually, this comment jogged my memory. I now recall that the watchmaker mentioned this as a possibility, but wasn't keen on doing it, since he claimed he had experienced problems recouping duties in the past. Maybe the OP will have better luck with this.
The watchmaker wanted me to put a 100 dollar value on it so he doesn’t get dinged when he receives the watch for repair. But said you can insure it for the real value with private insurance. Can that be done. Or can the sender pay the customs first so the watchmaker doesn’t get stuck with the bill.
Insure the watch via Hodinkee. the policy covers watch in-transit
