Jewellery and watchmaking

In the jewellery and watch trade, a business's assets fit into a few square metres and their value follows gold, silver and precious stones. The risk is not only a robbery: it is finding out, on the day of the claim, that the sum insured has fallen behind.

Where the claim enters

Robbery, ram-raids, sample cases in transit and sums insured left behind by gold

What decides the claim file

Two checks decide the settlement: the sum insured and the security measures

After a claim, the insurer compares the sum insured with the real value of the stock and checks that the agreed security measures were in place that day. With gold and silver prices up, a policy that was right three years ago may leave the business underinsured today: reviewing it regularly is part of the protection.

Robbery by day, ram-raid by night
A robbery is covered on a first loss basis up to the showcase limit. A ram-raid takes whatever was left outside the safe, which carries a much lower sub-limit: how stock is split between showcase and safe at closing is a policy clause, not a habit.
Pieces on the move
Sample cases, shipments and trade fairs each have their own limit and the security measures the insurer sets according to the sum insured and the destination. Where the car is left and where the pieces spend the night at a fair decide almost every claim.
Other people's pieces in your care
Customers' repairs, watches away for servicing, goods on consignment or gold with a stone setter: this is value you are responsible for that does not appear in your inventory, and it is declared separately, with its own limit.
Gold goes up; the policy does not
A jeweller that insured €500,000 of stock a few years ago may now hold €700,000 or €800,000 at replacement value. Precious stones are not traded on a public market, but their cost has moved too. On a first loss basis the settlement never exceeds the sum insured, and anything not recorded in the inventory or the invoices is not paid.

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

Common questions in the jewellery sector

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

Yes. The premises and the stock are different risks and each needs its own sums insured and cover. In jewellery the stock is usually most of the business's assets, and keeping it separate avoids falling short on the day of the claim.

What does insurance for a jeweller's premises cover?

The everyday risks that can bring the business to a halt —water, electrical faults, breakage, fire, weather events and flooding— plus liability cover for the premises, for the business's operations, tenant's liability if the premises are rented, and employer's liability.

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

Robbery, burglary and theft of the sample case are included in the policy we design at JORI. In return, the insurer requires specific security measures, within the framework of Order INT/317/2011, which depend on the sum insured and the areas the sample case travels through, whether to trade fairs, exhibitions or sales visits.

What protection does a private vehicle carrying jewellery sample cases need?

In a standard car: an additional alarm, a lock on the rear seats and parcel shelf so the boot cannot be reached from the cabin, and double locking on doors and boot. And, inside every case, a tracker.

What security measures does a jewellery shop need to get insurance?

Those set by private security regulations: a grade 3 system connected to an alarm receiving centre and a grade IV safe with a time delay. The policy adds its own conditions according to the sum insured and the location, and what is declared must match what is installed.

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