In many areas, gloves are necessary this time of year, but these innocent-looking accessories are mischief-makers in disguise, stealing rings and damaging jewelry.
How?
Glove interiors snag ring prongs. Diamonds and other gemstones become loose and subsequently are lost.
Also, because your fingers shrink when it’s cold, rings can slip off easily when removing gloves. In an airport security line, you may not even notice this has happened.
What can you do?
Simply be mindful when removing your gloves. And if you’re at the airport, remove them before you go through security, when you’re not feeling rushed to get through quickly.
To check or not to check
Another simple tip? Never place jewelry in checked luggage. If you do, go ahead and tag your bag with a sign that says, “Valuables inside. Free to good home.”
Wear or carry your jewelry with you, or don’t bring it at all.
And finally…
What’s the best way to protect your jewelry while you’re traveling? Well, make sure that it’s adequately insured!
Whether through your homeowners or Jewelers Mutual's personal jewelry insurance, it’s the single best thing you can do to protect your jewelry. If you choose to go with your homeowners, note that many policies limit basic coverage to $1,000 and often don’t cover things like disappearance.
Wondering how much jewelry insurance costs? Check your rate using the button below.
If your jewelry is insured (good for you!) and it’s been a while since you’ve had it appraised, particularly with gold or platinum jewelry, you may want to have it appraised again. For example, gold prices in 2007 were $811 an ounce; now, they’re a whopping $1,387 an ounce!
You’ll want to make sure your jewelry is insured for its full value. Otherwise, if you were to lose it, you are only insured for up to the limit that is stated on your policy.