How to store a luxury watch: safe, watch winder, insurance and good habits
Where to keep a watch you are not wearing, whether you need a winder, how to insure it and which documents to keep: the simple habits that protect the watch, its value and your recourse if something goes wrong.
Maintenance · · 7 min read
A luxury watch spends more time stored than on the wrist, especially when you own several. How you store it affects its mechanical condition, its appearance and, in the event of theft or loss, your ability to be compensated. This guide covers storage, using a watch winder, insurance and the file to keep up to date.
Storing a watch: the enemies to avoid
A mechanical watch in storage fears four things: moisture, shocks, magnetic fields and scratches from contact.
- Moisture. A bathroom, a cellar or a poorly ventilated safe exposes the gaskets and the dial. Prefer a temperate, dry room. A sachet of silica gel in the box, replaced regularly, helps in damp places.
- Shocks. A watch balanced on a shelf always ends up falling. A watch box or a compartmentalised tray prevents most accidents.
- [Magnetism](/glossaire/magnetisme). Speakers, tablets, magnetic clasps on bags or cases, induction hobs: a magnetic field can make a watch gain several minutes a day. Keep your watches away from these sources.
- Scratches. Two watches touching in a drawer scratch each other, especially if one has a metal bracelet and the other a gold case. One compartment per watch.
The original box is perfectly suited to long-term storage, and it has another advantage: it stays in good condition, which matters on the day you sell. A damaged box takes away part of the appeal of a full set.
Do you need a watch winder?
A watch winder rotates an automatic watch to keep it running when it is not being worn. It is neither essential nor harmful, provided it is set correctly.
What it gives you. It saves you resetting the time and date each time, which is welcome on an annual calendar, a moon phase or a perpetual calendar, whose setting is tedious and sometimes risky if you change the date at an inadvisable hour.
What it does not do. It does not "protect" the movement. An automatic watch can stay stopped for several months without damage. Conversely, a watch that runs constantly wears as if it were being worn, and its oils age at the same pace.
How to set it. Common calibres generally need between 650 and 950 turns per day, in one or both directions depending on the movement; the brand's or calibre's instructions give the exact figure. An excessive setting does not damage a modern watch, which has a slipping mechanism when fully wound, but it serves no purpose.
For a manual-wind or quartz watch, a winder is useless. For a three-hand automatic worn regularly, it is mostly a convenience.
Safe, bank or home
For a high-value watch, where you keep it directly affects the insurance.
| Storage location | Protection against theft | Access | Usual effect on insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drawer or watch box at home | Low | Immediate | Low limits for valuables |
| Certified, anchored home safe | Good | Immediate | Often required above a certain amount |
| Bank safe deposit box | Very good | Branch opening hours | Specific cover, lower premium when not worn |
| Worn on the wrist, away from home | Variable | Permanent | "All risks" cover needed |
A home safe is only effective if it is certified (EN 1143-1 or equivalent standards) and fixed to the wall or floor; a small safe sitting in a cupboard can be carried off whole. A bank safe deposit box is the safest solution for watches you rarely wear, at the cost of less convenient access.
Insuring your watch
Most home insurance policies cover "valuables" up to a given limit, often expressed as a percentage of the contents cover or as an amount per item. Beyond that, or for a watch worn outside the home, specific cover is needed.
Three points deserve checking in your policy:
- The per-item limit and the overall limit for jewellery and watches. A €15,000 watch insured under a policy capped at €5,000 per item will only be compensated up to that cap.
- The required security conditions: safe, locks, alarm. A claim arising without meeting these conditions can be refused.
- Cover away from home: snatch theft, loss, breakage. It generally falls under "all risks" cover or a specialist policy.
For dedicated cover, observed premiums commonly sit between 1 and 2.5% of the insured value per year, depending on the value, where you live, security measures and the extent of cover. Ask for an agreed value rather than a value assessed by an expert on the day of the claim: you then know exactly what amount you will be compensated on.
Keeping the file up to date
In the event of theft, the insurer will ask you to prove that you owned the watch and what it was worth. An up-to-date file changes everything:
- the purchase invoice or, failing that, the pre-owned bill of sale;
- the warranty card and the serial number, noted down and kept separately from the watch;
- service invoices;
- recent photos of the watch, with close-ups of the caseback and dial;
- a recent valuation, to be updated regularly.
A watch's value changes: a Rolex GMT-Master II or a Tudor Black Bay insured on the basis of its purchase price five years ago may be under-insured, or on the contrary over-insured. A valuation every two or three years, based on the market value, lets you adjust the sum insured. Keep a copy of the whole file somewhere other than where the watch is kept.
When travelling
A valuable watch travels better in a rigid case at the bottom of your hand luggage than in a checked suitcase. Avoid wearing it conspicuously in places known for snatch theft, and check before leaving that your policy covers the watch away from home, and even abroad. Keep the invoice or a copy with you: it can be useful at some borders to prove where the watch was bought.
Everyday habits
- Unscrew the crown and screw it back down fully after each adjustment, if your watch has a screw-down crown.
- Do not set the date between roughly 9 pm and 3 am on most calibres, when the date-change mechanism is engaged.
- Rinse a dive watch in fresh water after the sea or the pool.
- Have the water resistance checked every year or two if you swim with the watch.
For the rest of the maintenance, our article on the cost and frequency of servicing tells you when to plan the next service.
In short
Store your watches somewhere dry, protected from shocks and magnets, each in its own compartment. A winder is a convenience, not a necessity. Insure the watch on an up-to-date value, check your policy's limits and keep a complete file, stored separately.
To know what value to insure, estimate your watch: its market value, updated from regular price surveys, gives you a solid basis to present to your insurer.
