Safekeeping of Your Jewelry There are precautions you need to take when travelling with jewelry, as well as safeguarding your jewels at home. Taking preventative measures to minimize loss or theft of your jewelry is important.
actual value—in this case you would receive $5,500—less your deductible, if applicable.
With regard to antique jewelry, which would be difficult to replace, the appraisal certificate would provide all the details and it would be based on the replacement value. You would receive a cash settlement.
Please note, this is a very GENERAL OVERVIEW and may not apply to your own specific insurer. I strongly recommend that you contact your individual agent to determine your insurance company’s specific policies with regards to insuring jewelry.
How well is your jewelry hidden at home? Do you have hiding places? The most obvious place for a thief to find your jewelry in your home is your bedroom, namely in your jewelry box located on top of your dresser.
Try to hide your jewelry throughout your home in various locations. There are unique “props” also known as gimmick gadgets that are made to resemble actual famous brand name products. You can hide your jewelry in them. These containers are replicas of the actual product—i.e. cans of food, household cleansers—these can be kept in their obvious locations. A pop can safe can be kept in the fridge with your other pop drinks, or a cleanser product safe, under your sink with other cleansers. These locations are much less conspicuous.
Other clever prop safes are fruits, vegetables, hollow books, stacks of C.D.’s, rocks, planters. One of my favorites is the replica of an electrical outlet that can be screwed into any wall in any room.
These replicas are not expensive and displayed in the appropriate spots where they look natural do not arouse suspicion from a potential thief.
Other “home-remedy” solutions would be to place your jewelry in Ziploc bags and hide them under sheets, towels, decorative zippered pillows, rolled into your socks. You can also store your jewels in the bottom of a bin that holds seasonal clothes, Christmas decorations and craft supplies. Tennis anyone….by cutting a slit into a tennis ball and squeezing it open you can place small items in. Your children’s stuffed animals are another less conspicuous place—simply open a seam, slide your jewelry in and re-stitch.
Be sure to keep a list of where your jewelry is hidden and in what. In the worst case scenario, if a thief is clever enough to figure out a decoy’s spot, remember, time is not in his favor, so he would grab and run perhaps with only 1 piece of jewelry rather than your entire lifetime collection.
Many people invest in actual safes—keep in mind that a small safe that can hide in a closet is portable and can easily be carried away. A larger safe is very heavy, and while it can’t be carried away, they are harder to hide and take up a lot of space.
I personally favor safes that have a drilled space in a floor—a.k.a. floor safes. They are not portable, they are hidden and you can cover them. Ideally, they are located in basements because they can be
