How To Travel With Your Watches
Blake Malin
Windup Watch Shop | August 28, 2024
we are currently in the peak vacation travel season, and for us watch enthusiasts, thinking about traveling with our watches can be stressful. Do you wear your most expensive watch? Should you bring multiple watches? If you bring numerous watches, do you put them in your carry-on luggage? What do you store them in? What about TSA security at the airport? All these questions can be daunting, and we wouldn't blame you for leaving your nice watches at home. Our timepieces are meant to be enjoyed, worn, and have memories built into them. What better memories are there than travelling on holiday?
First, let’s address the elephant in the room. Should you wear your most expensive watches when traveling? The short answer is it depends. Certain cities worldwide are renowned for watch theft, and you can easily do a quick Google search to find those. Should you visit one of them, be extra vigilant, don’t flaunt your watch, try to keep it under a cuff, and be mindful of your surroundings. Chances are you will be fine. However, if it is hot and clothing with cuffs is not an option, it is likely best not to bring your Rolex Daytona along.
You will be relatively safe wearing your watches everywhere else, but first, you must get there, and standing between you and your tropical holiday is the TSA. Gone are the days when you had to remove your watch, shoes, and belt when crossing through airport security. It’s safe to pass through the metal detector and the X-ray scanner if you are selected. It's also safe for your watches to go through the X-ray machine in your carry-on luggage, but how are you storing them in there? That's the question. Like many of you, we've stored our watches wrapped up in socks, but there's a much better way!
The Windup Watch Shop offers a variety of travel options for you to consider. For instance, Rickshaw Bagworks provides 2 and 4-watch travel cases made of Ultra Grid Nylon, featuring a Royal Plush interior lining to ensure the safety of your watches. There are hexagonal watch tubes with proper pillows for your bracelet watches to sit on, keeping them from getting scratched up in transit. And Convoy Co offers buttery smooth leather rolls, handmade from Italian Buttero leather, and lined with suede. Forget your watches, you will want to be wrapped in this material once you have handled it.
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These are just a few examples of what is available, and many of them come with options to carry extra straps and changing tools, so you can switch things up when you're away from home. While you’re in the Shop considering travel options, take a look at our fantastic variety of leather, nylon, rubber, and other synthetic watch straps, as well as our impressive range of metal bracelet options. You will also need a proper strap-changing tool to ensure you do not damage the lugs on your watches. We also have those!
One last piece of advice when traveling with multiple watches: Before you travel, take pictures of all your watches along with their warranty cards and/or receipts. If the watches were purchased through private sales, ensure that you have the correspondence with the seller and transaction records at hand. All this will help you prove to customs that you owned the watches before leaving the country. There have been cases where they do not believe travelers and either confiscated the watches or imposed duties and taxes on them. It's best to be safe and have documentation to avoid any issues.
Travel safely, wear your watches, make memories with them, and have fun!
