Should I Get Insurance for my Watch?

You finally got it: your grail watch.  Maybe it’s a Rolex or maybe an Audemars Piguet.  Regardless, it’s finally yours.  You see it when you close your eyes and love opening your eyes to see it on your wrist.  

But… 

Tragedy could be right around the corner.  Watch theft is on the rise since inflation is driving thieves to make ends meet by getting new inventory.  While we all hope that does not happen, don’t let your grail be protected by hope alone.   Insurance is the protection you need – specifically, watch or jewelry insurance.  So If you’re asking yourself “Should I get insurance for my watch?” – the answer is 100% YES!!! 

If you’re well-acquainted with insurance, you may be asking “Wouldn’t a watch theft be covered under my homeowner’s or renter’s policy?”  Unfortunately, some policies exclude jewelry while others have a VERY low limit.  It’s pretty common, in fact, to see a limit of $1,000-$5,000 for jewelry coverage on a standard home or renter’s policy.  And if your significant other’s wedding ring were to be stolen in the same theft incident, they would all come out of the same bucket of coverage. 

Thankfully, today it’s incredibly easy to obtain watch or jewelry insurance to protect your luxury timepieces (or even mid-level ones) against theft and other calamities.  While there are a multitude of ways to protect your timepiece collection, a few of the most common (and simple) ways to do so are: 

• Hodinkee Insurance
• Jewelers Mutual
• Wax Insurance
• Adding Coverage to Your Existing Renter’s or Homeowner’s Insurance Policy

Note: While we aren’t insurance experts and can’t give you legal advice on what a specific policy does or does not cover, we dove into these most common ways to insure your watches and obtained some of the FAQ’s you’ll want to know about each.  If you need legal advice – consult with a lawyer or folks in the insurance industry. 

Hodinkee Insurance 

If you’re a watch fan, you’ve heard of Hodinkee.  While most know them from the content they post, they are actually a major player in the timepiece insurance game.  Their website makes it sound so easy to get coverage – is it?  We went through the actual quote process to see.  Turns out – yes, it’s about as fast and easy as they come.  Within 3 minutes, we got a quote for an annual (1-year) insurance policy and the option to Apple Pay for it.   

Aside from being easy, Hodinkee Insurance offers global protection (note: you have to reside in the U.S. but your timepieces are covered wherever you travel) as well as a zero deductible policy.  That means you pay $0 out of pocket should you have to file a claim for a watch loss.  With protection from theft, loss, and damage, as well as “appreciation protection” to help your insurance keep pace with value just in case the value of your investment rises, Hodinkee seems like a fabulous way to insure.  

Jewelers Mutual Insurance  

Another major player in jewelry insurance is Jewelers Mutual.  The signup process and policy itself with them seemed comparable to Hodinkee. We were able to secure a quote in less than a minute, though the application to apply for the policy took a bit longer since the quote didn’t require much info. Of note, our tests were obtaining quotes for a single timepiece.  It goes without saying that, if you’ve spent hours amassing a fantastic timepiece collection, you may have to spend more time setting up insurance on it.   

A policy through Jewelers includes similar “perils” (or losses that are covered under the policy) to Hodinkee – loss, theft, damage, and disappearance.  It, too, provides worldwide coverage for your timepieces and an option for a $0 deductible (though the premium will be a bit higher if you opt for it).    

Wax Insurance  

A newer player in the watch insurance game is Wax Insurance.  With Wax, coverage can be expanded beyond just jewelry to include handbags, sports memorabilia, trading cards, fine art, and more.  So if you have some other items of value to insure, it may be worth your while to check out Wax.  The only catch with Wax is that you can’t set up a policy yourself online – when you request a quote, the website takes down some basic info and sends it to an agent to review.  From that point, the agent will send you an email with any information they need and any next steps to proceed with a policy.   

Adding Coverage to Your Existing Renter’s or Homeowner’s Insurance Policy 

The final mainstream way to insure your timepiece collection is through your homeowner’s or renter’s policy, but with a caveat.  You may recall we mentioned the coverage is minimal through the standard policies.  If you have a timepiece or collection worth insuring, you’ll need to “add a rider” to your policy.  That’s insurance jargon for adding a separate line of coverage within the homeowner’s or renter’s policy.  A rider essentially crosses out any limits in the standard policy and spells out new terms.    

We won’t be able to help you get a sample quote on this one, since all property insurance companies will vary greatly in terms of coverage, limits, procedure, etc.  While the process will likely be a bit lengthier to get your insurance rider set up, your advantage would be for all of your home/renter’s and jewelry insurance to be “under one roof” – that is, with the same company or within the same policy.  Some folks prefer to keep all the insurance together for simplicity of knowing who to contact after a loss, who to pay the premiums to, etc. 

Whichever insurance option you select, you’ll be making a wise investment.  After all, if you invested in your grail watch (or in a collection of them), wouldn’t you want to invest in protecting them?