Jewellery and Watch Insurance. How To Cover Your Bling?

It’s been a tough few years for South Africans, economically and socially and currently rising inflation and interest rates are threatening to hamper consumer confidence. While this might seem like negative news, it actually provides you with a chance to re-assess your finances. There’s also never been a better time to re-evaluate your insurance coverage to ensure you’ve thoroughly protected your most valuable assets.

Jewellery and watches are unique investments as they don’t depreciate in value over time and can become rare and highly prized. They are often treasured family heirlooms passed down from one generation to the next and, unlike art, properties or shares, they’re investments you can use on a daily basis.

Here’s what you need to know about protecting your belongings by picking the best jewellery and watch insurance.

Do I Need Watch Insurance?

The simple answer is ‘Yes”. Watches are a special form of jewellery. Traditionally they were used to tell the time, however, this function has largely been replaced by mobile phones, and watches are now more valued for sentimental reasons or as status symbols for men and women. You can expect to pay anything from R4,000 to R7 million for a decent watch, depending on your budget. While watches are a practical fashion accessory, their visibility also makes them easier to steal — which is something that can take place in under 30 seconds. Your stolen watch could end up on someone else's wrist! In 2021, a raid on a Western Cape pawn shop uncovered over 50 stolen watches (valued at millions of rands) without any documentation or records to attest to their legal ownership.

If you’re wearing a smart watch and think you’re in the clear, think again. Smart watches can offer criminals access to personal information, such as your travelling routes, email accounts and banking details. This makes your device more valuable than you might think and smart watch insurance is as essential as luxury jewellery and watch insurance.

What about standalone jewellery insurance instead?

Jewellery is something that many people wear daily without ever taking it off. This can make it easy to forget just how valuable it is. Even if you aren’t wearing the rarest or most expensive piece on the market, you’re probably wearing something of sentimental value to you, which is hard to put a price on. Whether it’s a precious family heirloom passed down from your great-grandmother or the engagement ring from the love of your life, this is one investment you’ll want to protect with high value jewellery insurance. Due to the price and rarity of such items, they often require stand-alone jewellery insurance.

While Russia is one of the world’s largest diamond producers, sanctions against the country after the invasion of Ukraine mean that the demand for South African diamonds is increasing. Local jewellers are also seeing more demand for custom-made, proudly South African jewellery. In short, your current jewellery stash could be worth more than you anticipated.

Are Watches And Jewellery Not Covered By Home Insurance?

Making sure you regularly audit your jewellery and watch insurance is critical because it enables you to pay the best premiums for your coverage and prevents you from making costly insurance errors. Far too many people wait until they need to make a claim before they contact their insurer asking, “Can I claim for lost jewellery on home insurance?”

As mentioned above, jewellery and watch insurance is often treated as a stand-alone product because these items aren’t used like typical assets. They can be covered under your home contents insurance provided you have a valuation certificate for each item and they were at home at the time of the loss. You will also have to prove you stored them in a securely locked SABS-approved wall- or floor-mounted safe that was forcibly opened and not left unlocked. However, this won’t help you if you wear the item every day or had it in your handbag or car when it was lost or stolen. This means you might also need to supplement your coverage with portable possessions insurance.

How Do You Insure A Piece Of Jewellery Or A Watch?

There are a few steps you can take to insure your jewellery or watches adequately. The first is to ensure the item is valued by a jeweller accredited by the Jewellery Council of South Africa and that you have the valuation certificate in your possession. You must also ensure your chosen jewellery and watch insurance provider insures the items for this amount — no more and no less. A failure to do so can result in your insurance being cancelled or your stolen or lost watch insurance claim being rejected. You should also regularly re-evaluate the item to keep up with market changes.

Keep in mind that insuring your items with multiple insurers is illegal and could have your coverage from all parties voided. Similarly not taking reasonable measures to protect the item in question could invalidate your claim.

Common Questions About Jewellery And Watch Insurance Answered

If you’re still unclear about your jewellery and watch insurance, the following questions and answers should be helpful:

How Does A Lost Watch Insurance Claim Work?

The moment your watch is lost or stolen you’ll need to report it to the police and file an insurance claim. Provided you followed the advice in the section above, your claim should be processed quickly and painlessly.

How Much Does Watch Insurance Cost?

A common question insurers get asked is: “How much does it cost to get a Rolex insured?” Like all forms of insurance, this depends on many factors, such as the value of the specific watch; if it has special or limited edition features and how old it is. It’s highly recommended that you contact an insurer for individualised advice about items of such value.

What’s The Difference Between Specialist Jewellery Insurance And Budget Insurance?

You might be wondering why you should insure your jewellery and watches with Budget instead of a jewellery specialist. The answer is that it will simplify your life and make it easier and quicker to make a claim. Choosing a single insurer who can also offer you insurance for your jewellery at home and on the road will prevent you from experiencing a lapse in coverage.

Cover your bling with Jewellery and Watch insurance today 

Now that you have a better idea of the pitfalls of failing to insure your jewellery and watches correctly, you can see how insuring your precious items with Budget Insurance makes sense. For a no-obligation quote on your jewellery and watch insurance, contact us for a quote and an expert member of our team will get back to you.