Should I insure my inherited watch?

Larumbelle

I have just inherited a watch from my grandfather. It has mainly sentimental value to me - it was given to him by the company he worked for when he retired in the 70s and is engraved on the back. One of my earliest memories is of sitting on his lap and getting him to read the inscription to me again and again.

Anyhow, now that I have the watch it seems to have some actual value to it. It is made by a company called Garrard and it is an automatic watch with a second hand that 'sweeps' instead of 'ticks', also the case is gold, it has what looks like a hallmark inside it. When a jeweller had a quick look he said if I was looking to sell he would pay £150 which is a lot of money to me (though naturally I'd never sell it) but he also said that it would be valued 'quite a bit' higher for insurance purposes but I would need to leave it with him and pay for a proper valuation.

But... because it has only sentimental value to me, is it actually worth me getting it valued or insured? Because if it's not my granddad's watch I'm not really bothered anyway, if that makes sense. If something happened to it as far as I'm concerned there wouldn't be much point in replacing it with a different one. But OH says that is stupid and that we should get it valued so we can put it on the insurance. I'm a little bit upset about that because I want to wear it all the time like he did, even though it's a man's watch, and value it for it's value to me, not worry about whether it is 'worth' money. It's causing quite a bit of tension between my and my OH. Can anyone advise me on what I should do?

I have no idea if I am posting this in the right forum, mods please move it if necessary.

Penny_Watcher

Firstly condolences for the loss of your Grandfather. It sounds like you have some happy memories of him though.

Do you have Home Contents insurance? If you do you might find that your watch is already covered under that policy. Either read the policy and see what the single article limit is or talk to the broker/insurance company that you bought the policy from. They should be able to advise you properly.

HTH

3plus1

Just because your OH wants you to get the watch insured doesn't mean he wants you to sell it. That's important to remember. You seem to associate valuing/insuring the watch with getting rid of it - when you insure things, it's about planning for the worst case scenario. Chances are, you'll have that watch forever and maybe even pass it on through your family eventually too.

The watch is a symbol of good times; happy times. I know it's an emotive subject but try to come to an understanding with your OH as the last thing your granddad would have intended was to create squabbling between you and your OH. It's very clear from your original post that you both loved each other so he would have wanted you to be happy.

If getting the watch insured is going to put an end to the rowing and it's not going to result in any changes (after all, you're still going to keep the watch), it's maybe worth going along with. Getting it insured is also a sensible idea - if it did get stolen, you could replace the watch with perhaps another or a small piece of jewellery, create your own memories and pass that object on too just like your granddad.

At the end of the day, if you're struggling to decide what's 'right' regarding the watch, just think of what your granddad would have wanted for you.

Hope the above helps a little. Like Penny Watch, I'm sorry for your loss but glad that you do have happy memories to look back on.

farah131

Hi SilverCharming,
I wear a financially not very expensive watch, but a sentimentally hugely expensive watch. It's on my household insurance under 'named items' (and had a valuation to confirm the make/model and current insurance value) so that if it ever was stolen/broken/lost etc...I would be able to buy something that would remind me of my Dad (whose watch it is). I know that may sound silly, but I would feel a lot better if I lost it and was able to replace it with something else that I could look at and think "that was from my Dad".

Sounds silly, but I know it would comfort me if anything ever happened to my watch.
Fx

davetrousers

I googled Garrard watch and one of the findings was a want it now on ebay link

AnnieM_3

If it's really from Garrard, I would DEFINITELY get it valued and then insured.

http://www.garrard.com/

Make sure you use someone reputable for the valuation - maybe Garrard can advise you?

Idiophreak

silvercharming wrote: »

Because if it's not my granddad's watch I'm not really bothered anyway, if that makes sense.

You could use the money, though, to buy a replacement which could one day be passed on to your grandkids....