What we hold · Jewelry & Watches
Jewelry and Watch Custody During an Extended Absence
Portable, valuable, and easy to liquidate — which makes jewelry the property most likely to disappear from a household during a long absence, and the hardest to prove was ever there.
Consultations with counsel are complimentary. We can meet at the facility or at your office.
40+
Years operating since 1983
Zero
Security incidents on record
9R
Highest UL vault rating available
0
Client boxes ever drilled for non-payment
Why this matters
What goes wrong over a long term
Homeowner policies cap jewelry coverage far below replacement value, often at a couple of thousand dollars in total. If the home itself is given up during the absence, there may be no policy at all. A signed inventory in a rated vault is the only version of this that survives the term.
How custody handles jewelry & watches
- Signed written inventory at intake, so what went in is not a matter of recollection.
- Contents coverage is available through the facility’s Lloyd’s of London program.
- Climate control protects pearls, straps, and organic stones over multi-year terms.
- Nothing leaves except to a named party, with the release documented.
Coverage
How this is insured
Scheduled individually, on current appraisal, or effectively not covered. That is the whole of it. For fiduciary purposes the trap is a stale schedule: an appraisal from a decade ago sets a value the market has left behind, and the shortfall lands on whoever was responsible for keeping it current. Insurers also commonly rate items held at home differently to items held in a vault, so the custody decision and the coverage position are one decision, not two.
Succession
What happens to it in an estate
Jewelry produces more estate litigation per dollar than any other category, and it is almost never about value. Items carry identity — a mother's ring, a father's watch — and when a will refers to 'my jewelry' without an itemized list, the family is left to argue from recollection. A photographed inventory taken at intake ends that argument before it starts, which is why experienced counsel treat the inventory as the deliverable and the storage as incidental.
Which box size fits
Most collections fit a 5×5×24 or 5×10×24. Watch collections with original boxes and papers should size up — packaging takes more room than the watches.
Common questions
- Do you appraise?
- No. We inventory. Appraisal is a separate service and we can refer you to one.
- Can items be insured?
- Yes, separately, through the facility’s Lloyd’s program against a schedule of contents.
- Can a family member retrieve a specific piece?
- Yes, if named, and the release is documented item by item.
Related
Also held in custody
Case & Legal Documents
Executed originals and full case files kept whole for years, with counsel named as an authorized agent at intake.
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Family Heirlooms
One custodian, one signed inventory, one location — so nothing scatters among relatives while a household is running without its center.
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Business & Corporate Records
The box is rented by the entity, so minute books and share ledgers stay reachable when the officers change.
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Set custody up before the date, not after.
Tours are private and by appointment. You will see the vault door, the man-trap entry, and the box sizes in person. No account relationship is required to visit.