Jewellery and watchmaking

In a jewellery shop, the capital is not in the premises but in the goods, and the goods move: from the display window to the safe every night, from the workshop to the setter, from the shop to the fair and to the client. The exposure is not determined by the square metre but by the journey of the pieces, and each stage of that journey responds with a different limit and conditions.

Where the claim enters

Robbery and ram-raid, protection conditions and goods in transit

What decides the claim file

In jewellery, the claim is decided by the protection conditions, not by the value of the pieces.

The jewellery insurer rarely disputes the value of what was stolen: they ask for the safe with which the policy was contracted, the connected alarm, the empty display windows at closing, and the stock register, and they check that all this was complied with on the night of the claim. A shop that changed the safe, the alarm company or the schedule without notifying has a policy that no longer describes its risk. The risk visit and the annual review of these conditions are the part of the insurance that is truly charged.

Robbery during opening hours and ram-raid at closing
These are the two claims that give the branch its name in Spain. The robbery occurs with the public inside and is covered at first risk with the exposure limit in display cases; the ram-raid occurs through the display window at dawn and finds what was left outside the safe, which responds with a much lower sub-limit. The distribution of goods between display case and safe at closing is a clause, not a habit, and the security glass of the display window and the shutter are conditions that are accredited with the installation invoice.
The goods that go out: travellers, shipments and fairs
A wholesaler moves the sample case in person; a shop sends a piece to a client by courier or takes stock to a fair. Each stage has its own limit, and two clauses decide almost all claims: the unattended vehicle clause, which excludes theft from the boot even if the car was locked, and the night custody at fair clause, which specifies where the goods must be stored when the stand closes.
Pieces that are not yours and pieces that are not here
The repair that a client leaves on the counter, the watch waiting for technical service, the merchandise that a supplier has left on consignment, and the gold that is in the hands of an external refiner or setter are value at your charge that does not appear in your purchase inventory. It is declared separately, with its own limit, and the liability for entrusted goods is in the liability policy, not in the stock policy.
The price of metal and the record that supports the capital
With gold and silver well above the price of a few years ago, the capital declared in the last renewal no longer buys the same stock. The first risk avoids the proportional rule, but not an inaccurate declaration. The insurer contrasts the indemnity with the book of entries and exits, the purchase invoices and the photographs of the unique pieces: what is not recorded in the registers is not indemnified, and in a robbery, it is the register, not the memory, that is assessed.

What is contracted here

The covers that support a company in this sector

Each one is designed based on the company's real exposure. None are contracted the same in two companies in the same sector.

Frequently asked questions

Lo que nos preguntan en jewellery and watchmaking

What security measures must a jewellery shop have to insure itself?

Those imposed by the Private Security Regulations on jewellers and silversmiths, which are the starting point for any insurer: safe or vault, anti-robbery buttons and alarm system connected to a monitoring centre, among others. On top of this minimum, the policy sets its own conditions according to the capital: grade of the safe, detection of alarm jamming, display windows emptied at closing time and, for high capitals, delayed opening of the safe or two people in the shop. What is signed must be what is installed, because it is checked after the claim and not before.

Do we need one policy for the premises and another separate one for the stock?

Yes, and it is advisable that they are managed by the same programme. The all-risk jewellery policy insures the stock wherever it is; the premises, the building, the furniture, the reinforced display cases and the safe itself are covered by a multi-risk damage policy with loss of profits, which pays the rent and salaries during the weeks of closure following a ram-raid. The third is the civil liability towards clients and for items under repair. With three policies from three different insurers, each refers to the other on the day of the claim; with a single programme, the gap between them is closed in writing.

We are wholesalers and our sales representative travels with a sample collection. What exactly is covered?

The sample collection in person, up to a limit per person and per trip, with the traveller declared in the policy. The cover is lost in two specific situations: when the stock is left in an unattended vehicle, even if it is locked and the stop is brief, and when it is not deposited in the hotel's safe. Trade fairs are declared separately, with the capital taken and the night-time custody defined. For shipments to retailers, the transport of valuables and the courier with declared value each have their own limit per shipment, and ordinary shipping is not covered.

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