Packing Your Precious Gems: A Guide to Moving Your Jewelry

Packing jewelry for a move can feel overwhelming, particularly if your collection includes fragile and valuable pieces. Jewelry, whether or not you’re moving, is one of the most frequently stolen items. Combine this with the chaos of packing boxes, hiring movers, and loading the truck, and you have the perfect conditions for jewelry to get lost, damaged, or stolen.

• Often, during a move, it’s not the largest or heaviest items that are the most challenging to relocate.

• Instead, it’s the small valuables that can easily go missing.

• If your jewelry collection includes long necklaces, it’s likely impractical to keep everything with you during the entire move.

• And lugging around so many valuable items can be stressful, especially during a cross-country move.

We want to help you protect your jewelry during a move. Check out these tips on how to pack jewelry effectively when moving.

Jewelry Roll

Jewelry rolls are excellent if you have a more manageable collection.

• While typically used for travel, jewelry rolls are equally useful during a move.

• With individual pockets and a roll-up design, they’re ideal for small to medium-sized collections.

• Plus, you can always invest in multiple rolls.

Buttons for Earrings

Losing an earring during a move can be incredibly frustrating. Spare buttons can solve this issue by giving you a place for pairing earrings together.

Simply thread the earrings through a button, and they’ll stay together. You’ll still need to pack the buttons, but at least your earrings will remain paired.

Prevent Necklace Tangles

Tangled necklaces can be a significant headache.

• To avoid this, unclasp the necklace, feed it through a straw, and then clasp it back together.

This method will keep your necklaces from tangling with each other.

Keep Individual Items Safe

When it comes to packing jewelry, it’s crucial to pack each item separately.

• Wrap each piece in tissue paper and place it in a sandwich bag.

• This is particularly important for valuable pieces you want to protect from scratches, such as gold, which can scratch easily.

Secure Your Armoire

If your jewelry is in an armoire, make sure to secure the drawers.

This will prevent the drawers from opening during the move, avoiding any potential spills of your jewelry.

Use Spiral Binding From Notebook

For this tip, you can repurpose a spring or the spiral binding from a notebook.

• After threading your necklaces through straws, attach the clasp to one loop of the spiral.

• This method keeps everything aligned and easy to protect.

Using these packing tips, you can avoid finding a tangled mess of necklaces when you unpack your jewelry collection.

Keep Items With You

Many professional moving companies won’t allow valuables like jewelry in the truck, often due to insurance reasons.

Lost jewelry is costly for movers to replace, so whenever possible, keep it with you.

Protect with Plastic Wrap and a Rubber Band: For a small collection, place plastic wrap over a small bowl of jewelry and secure it with a rubber band.

Ensure your jewelry is properly insured: Jewelry is commonly insured up to around $1,000 under homeowner or renter policies. However, these policies typically don’t cover mysterious disappearances, the most commonly reported cause of jewelry loss.

Tips for Transporting Expensive Jewelry Pieces

Do It Yourself

If you have only a few items to move, consider wearing the valuable pieces. Place smaller or less valuable items in a zipped compartment on the inside of a piece of clothing and wear it for transport.
This dual approach avoids drawing attention by wearing layers of jewelry!

For larger collections, pack your jewelry carefully and transport the box yourself.

Use an Armored Courier Service

• Consider using services like Malca Amit or Brinks to safely transport your jewelry.

• Drop off your packaged jewelry at the nearest distribution center, and they will handle storage, insurance, and shipping.

• You can opt to have the package delivered either directly to your new home or to a nearby distribution center for pick-up.

Ship via Registered Mail

Using USPS Registered Mail to ship your jewelry to your new address is another viable option. Follow these recommendations for added safety:

• Request a return receipt for your shipment.

• Limit the value of each package to under $25,000.

• Purchase insurance through USPS for your package.

• Coordinate your delivery so it doesn’t sit at your new local Post Office, waiting for you.

With the appropriate precautions, we wish you a safe and happy relocation to your new home!