Hey OF,

Was reviewing my home insurance policy, and realized that it in no way covered the cost of my watches...before escalating my insurance coverage, I had a reality check. Luxury watches are excessively expensive to start with, and now I am looking at paying increased annual premiums for the lifetime of the watch! My lesson from that...I am planning on downsizing my collection

Thoughts?

 

Adding a rider should be very affordable.

 

Agreed. I upped my personal property coverage by like $20k and the cost was so small I dont even remember what it was.

 

I've been looking into this as well. Do the Omega Boutiques do appraisals?

 

No. Also be aware appraisals come in 2 flavors. Sale price and insured price. They are not the same.

 

I would go to a family run jewelry store that is also an AD.

 

After spending years in risk management I learned that the one thing not to be cheap with is property insurance because it's not expensive. Just make sure the amendment is adequate to cover your watches while they are off premises. There are usually two limits, one for on premises and one for off and the off premises limit is lower.

 

Interesting, I wasn't aware of that. Will check my policy regarding that. With my provider, it is a noticeable bump up to cover jewellery

 

Any thoughts about stand alone insurance not tied to anything like homeowner or such? In other words insurance just for your watches.

If so any recommendations on stand alone insurance?

 

It's generally cheaper to add on to your homeowners or renters insurance, then a stand alone policy.

 

Agreed - I was able to get a very affordable rider to cover "valuable personal property" on my insurance (USAA). It includes watches, heirloom antiques, and so forth. The premium per item is something like 1% of declared value per year.

 

Not

Thats somewhat reasonable..

 

Sorry think my last statement cut off...it wasn't insignificant when I checked, unfortunately...

 

What if that's not an option? I know a few friends have asked me about insurance for watches but no one has any recommendation or idea of where to go.

 

AAA has a broker in each state for this. Any licensed insurance broker can find one for you.

 

For stand alone? Sorry if I wasn't clear.

 

Yes if you are a member

 

I have a policy through Jewelers Mutual. I'm not sure how good they are to deal with if you have a claim. But it was reasonably priced. Does anyone have experiences with them, good or bad?

 

They're rated A+ by AM Best and have maintained the rating so they're financially stable.

 

I did this several years back, I checked with my homeowners insurance company, and then I got quotes for a standalone personal articles policy from Travelers, Chubb, and Jewelers Mutual... I ended up going with Travelers, they are just over 1% of the total value you want to insure, per year. They don't require appraisals, just specifics on the watches you intend to cover (model, serial #, etc.).