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August 25th, 2015

Does Your Watch Need Insurance?

When you choose a luxury watch, you’re likely to spend some time considering all aspects of the purchase. It is, after all, often a significant investment. You will naturally give consideration to the brand you choose, the particular model, its movements and other details of its workings, as well as the likelihood of its future appreciation in value. However, once you’ve made the purchase, should you consider insurance for this particular investment?

It’s not a question with a simple answer; as with so many things, it depends greatly upon your circumstances.

The main concern is often theft; as a small, very portable and highly valuable item, a luxury watch does naturally present certain risks. However, if sensibly protected, these risks are generally not exceptional, and prevention is, as they say, better than cure. A few years ago, tennis star Rafael Nadal had a £250,000 Richard Mille watch stolen from his hotel suite while he slept; he had left this extraordinary timepiece by his bedside and an employee had entered during the night to take it. Simply using the hotel’s safe would, of course, have prevented this!

The same precautions can easily be taken in your own home; installing a safe for your valuables is a sensible option, and if you choose to look for insurance in addition this precaution will often help to reduce your premiums.

You can even invest in specialist safes which are designed to securely house a watch collection, with high-end designs incorporating watch winders to ensure that your favourite automatic or even hand-wound timepiece is always ready for wear – these are, naturally, aimed more at avid horological collectors than the first-time buyer. A first-time buyer who intends to wear their watch regularly will have no need of such extras – at least, not until they extend their collection – and would be just as well served by a standard safe.

To return to the question, the essential point you should consider is whether you can afford to replace your watch should the worst happen. If you cannot, insurance is a very wise solution.

To ensure that your insurance covers your watch properly, it’s vital that it is properly documented. Your watch should be specifically catalogued with photographs and thorough details of the original purchase. In addition, at Banks Lyon we provide a free valuation service for any item over the value of £2,000 to help you obtain the appropriate cover. Be very clear on what compensation your insurance policy entitles you to; the market value of a piece at the time it is stolen may not be the same as its replacement cost.

At Banks Lyon, we are more than happy to advise you on every aspect of purchasing a luxury watch. We are proud to offer an extensive range of timepieces, from Swiss brands like Omega watches to British-made Bremont watches; all available with flexible finance options to suit everyone from the first-time buyer to the experienced horological aficionado. For more information, call us on 01524 384858 or visit us in our Lancaster store, which remains open during our refurbishment.

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