Jewellery is designed to be worn and unlike Art works jewellery often leaves the home. Intrinsically precious, the main perils are loss and damage. When considering insuring jewellery your three actions should be, Value Jewellery, Care for Jewellery and Secure Jewellery, (the fourth is to enjoy wearing it!)

Secure Jewellery

When insuring jewellery, it is more economic to determine a ‘wearing limit’ value as the remainder of the collection could be insured at approximately one quarter of the cost when kept in an appropriate safe. When not worn or in your ‘care, custody or control’ jewellery should be kept in a safe or in a safety deposit facility. Eurograde safes are rated, or graded, between 0 and 6 as a common standard across all manufacturers. AXA ART recommends that most clients invest in a medium capacity Eurograde 3 safe, (£35,000 cash, £350,000 jewellery rating) as being the most practical / cost effective safe solution. For larger collections / values purchasing two or more Eurograde 3 safes is recommended. Only the very largest Jewellery collections require the purchase of a Grade 4 or higher rated safe. All safes should be securely multipoint anchored in a discreet location as far away from entry points as possible. Ideally the safe should be located within a locked cupboard within an alarmed room. If these points are followed Underwriters can often accept a multiple of the jewellery rating.

Care for Jewellery

Platinum is an extraordinarily strong yet brittle metal. With a single stone diamond engagement many contemporary jewellers will use as few as four claws to hold the stone. A knock might be enough to tear a claw open and loosen the stone. It is therefore important to have a jeweller check the claws setting annually. Strings of pearls need to be restrung on new silk periodically and watches require ongoing maintenance. Our policies offer depreciation cover in the same manner as with Art should your jewel get damaged and is repaired with a loss in value.

Value Jewellery

The need for maintaining comprehensive and up-to-date jewellery valuations is oft repeated. Set against recent years of economic uncertainty with volatility in financial markets, low interest rates and shaky global confidence it is important to note just how strongly jewellery is preforming both at international auction and retail. The cumulative forces of ‘supply and demand’ can mean that if your jewellery has not been updated for insurance purposes in the past three years it is almost certainly out of date. Here are six reasons why,

1. The steady increase of gold, silver and platinum bullion prices has had a significant affect on jewellery costs. Gold for example is, (at the time of writing), at its peak and more than seven times of its value in 2000. [2000 $272, 2020 $1950].
2. There is a finite supply of good quality gemstones as many of the best sources have been exhausted. Premiums are paid for Burmese rubies and Sri Lankan sapphires which have not been ‘heat treated’ and emeralds which have not been filled or ‘oiled’. The demand for ‘fancy’ coloured diamonds is insatiable and outstrips supply. Sadly, due to pollution, the historic sources of natural pearls from the Persian Gulf have been exhausted.
3. Premier jewellery houses have generated significant ‘brand premium’ in recent years of anything up to 15-20% per annum which supports their prime location showrooms, marketing, and exclusivity. Many retailers adjust their prices annually.
4. Luxury watch brands often limit the supply of their top models and ‘waiting lists’ are not uncommon – the same applies to ‘fine jewellery collections’. As many pieces are ‘one-off’ and bespoke general manufacturing costs and employing specialist craftsmen are constantly increasing.
5. There is a greater and wider collector interest in both precious and semi-precious gemstones from collectors. Natural saltwater pearls have seen a significant rise due to the strength of demand from Middle Eastern collectors as has jade jewellery for the Chinese. The large number of new buyers from ‘emerging countries’ tend to wish to purchase fine jewellery in the retail sector. Frequently young, aspirational, and entrepreneurial these wealthy international buyers are often very well informed and seek certificated diamonds, jewels, and watches from well-known retailers where a brand name inspires confidence and status. Jewellery is often also viewed as an ‘alternative investment’ class.
6. Antique, heirloom second-hand jewellery is a finite commodity. The combination of sometimes unrepeatable craftsmanship and irreplaceable gemstones has led to relentlessly rising auction prices with an inevitable knock-on effect in the retail sector. Any piece of jewellery with a provenance of prior ownership, be it celebrity or aristocratic, has also proved to be highly sought after in todays market.

The above six points affect the values of all jewellery collections including yours!

I am happy to discuss the insurance of your jewellery collection as part of your household combined insurance policy.