New collaboration brings together specialist insurance expertise and digital asset infrastructure as the jewellery trade increasingly looks beyond the point of sale
The traditional jewellery sale may be changing.
For generations, much of the jewellery and watch trade has been built around a familiar model: acquire the customer, make the sale, provide the documentation and hope that customer returns in the future.
But as retailers face tighter margins, rising acquisition costs, and increasingly demanding consumers, a different commercial opportunity is emerging — one centred not simply on selling the next piece of jewellery, but on staying connected to the pieces already sold.
That thinking sits behind a new collaboration between specialist jewellery insurer TH March and jewellery technology platform ValuCert™, supported by the National Association of Jewellers.
The initiative brings together TH March’s specialist insurance expertise with ValuCert’s digital asset infrastructure, aiming to help jewellery and watch retailers remain part of the customer relationship throughout the entire ownership lifecycle.
It represents a potentially important development for a trade in which the value of the customer relationship can extend for decades beyond the original transaction.
From point of sale to lifetime ownership
Jewellery and watches are unusual retail products.
An individual may own a significant item for 20, 30 or even 50 years. During that time it may need to be insured, revalued, cleaned, repaired, serviced, remodelled, restored, sold, inherited or replaced.
Yet the retailer responsible for the original transaction can easily disappear from that journey shortly after the customer leaves the showroom.
ValuCert was created specifically to address that disconnect.
Its SmartReport™ system enables jewellery and watch businesses to create a digital record for an asset, bringing together information such as specifications, photography and supporting documentation. Each SmartReport™ can then connect to a customer Vault, creating an ongoing digital relationship between the customer, their asset and the retailer.
ValuCert describes this model as “connected ownership”, effectively turning the asset itself into an ongoing reason for the retailer and customer to stay in contact.
The platform currently supports opportunities around insurance, future valuations, servicing, repairs and customer retention, with further AI-powered “Reasons to Reconnect™” functionality in development.
Crucially, SmartReport™ records are designed to complement, rather than replace, the work of qualified professional valuers.
Insurance becomes part of the ownership journey
The TH March collaboration adds a significant protection element to that proposition.
For more than a century, TH March has specialised in protecting jewellery, watches and other valuable possessions. The broker also has a particularly deep relationship with the UK jewellery trade.
In May this year, the National Association of Jewellers reaffirmed TH March as its preferred insurance partner, continuing a relationship between the two organisations stretching back around 120 years.
TH March has also continued to expand its digital partnership strategy during 2026, including the launch of a wedding insurance proposition with ShieldMy Insurance Services designed partly around its network of UK jeweller partners.
The new work with ValuCert therefore fits into a wider movement towards integrating specialist insurance more naturally into the jewellery ownership experience.
Professional valuations remain central to that process. A valuation provides the independent professional assessment required to support appropriate insurance, establish accurate records and help consumers understand the jewellery and watches they own.
The ValuCert model sits within that professional framework, providing the infrastructure that keeps information accessible and the customer relationship ongoing.
Peter Goodman, Compliance Director of TH March, said: “For nearly 140 years, TH March has been protecting the jewellery, watches and precious possessions people value most. By combining trusted professional valuations, specialist insurance expertise and secure digital records, we’re helping retailers deliver an even better ownership experience while giving customers greater confidence that their treasured possessions remain appropriately protected throughout their lifetime.”
The commercial opportunity retailers may be missing
For ValuCert founder Christopher Stoner, the central argument is as much commercial as it is technological.
The jewellery industry spends heavily on attracting new customers, but the asset already sitting on an existing customer’s finger, wrist or in their jewellery box may generate multiple opportunities over its lifetime.
That could include valuation updates, insurance referrals, cleaning, repairs, watch servicing, restoration, redesign, resale, probate work or ultimately another purchase.
Stoner believes retailers have historically failed to capture enough of that value because no consistent infrastructure has linked the retailer back to the individual asset.
He said: “For decades, our industry has invested enormous effort acquiring customers, only to lose contact with them almost immediately after the sale. Every valuable asset represents years of future customer engagement. Until now, the industry has largely been unable to unlock that opportunity. We believe the retailers who thrive over the next decade will be those who remain connected to the jewellery and watches they bring into people’s lives throughout the lifetime of ownership.”
That argument goes to the heart of a wider discussion across retail: customer acquisition is expensive, while existing customers already know and trust the business.
For jewellers in particular, there is another advantage. The product itself creates natural reasons to reconnect.
A diamond ring may need its setting inspected. A mechanical watch requires servicing. An insurance valuation becomes outdated. A piece may be inherited by the next generation. A customer may want to remodel an unworn item or trade it in for something new.
The commercial question is whether the retailer remains visible when those moments arrive.
A changing role for digital records
Consumer expectations are also moving rapidly.
Banking, travel, insurance, medical records and investment information are increasingly accessed digitally. Jewellery documentation, however, still often relies on receipts, certificates, and paper valuation documents stored in drawers or filing cabinets.
ValuCert argues that valuable assets should increasingly have persistent digital records in much the same way.
Its current platform combines SmartReports™, customer Vaults, insurer connections, renewal management and future valuation opportunities. It is also developing a dedicated customer app and proprietary technology, Reasons to Reconnect™ functionality.
The company has recently added several pieces to that wider strategy.
ValuCert is working with insurance partners including TH March and ZNG, while experienced jewellery industry executive Judith Lockwood recently joined the business as Strategic Industry Advisor.
The platform has also been shortlisted for Digital Engagement of the Year at the 2026 NAJ Awards, placing it alongside six other businesses recognised for their digital work within the UK jewellery sector.
Taken together, those developments suggest ValuCert is moving beyond being simply a digital reporting tool towards a broader infrastructure proposition built around the ownership of valuable assets.
NAJ welcomes member collaboration
The National Association of Jewellers has welcomed the TH March and ValuCert collaboration.
Paul Smith, Membership Manager at the NAJ, said: “One of the strengths of the jewellery industry is the willingness of businesses to collaborate in ways that support retailers and deliver greater value to consumers. We are pleased to support this partnership between two NAJ members, bringing together complementary expertise that can help retailers strengthen customer relationships while continuing to uphold the high professional standards our industry is known for.”
That reference to professional standards is particularly significant at a time when valuation practice itself continues to evolve.
Earlier this year, the NAJ’s Institute of Registered Valuers introduced updated requirements around diamond screening during the valuation process, reflecting the increasing complexity created by the growth of laboratory-grown diamonds and the importance of accurate identification and documentation.
Digital infrastructure will not replace that expertise. Its potential value lies in making professionally created information easier to retain, access and use throughout an asset’s lifetime.
The bigger question for jewellery retail
The most interesting part of the TH March and ValuCert announcement may therefore be what it says about where jewellery retail is heading.
For much of the industry’s history, success has been measured heavily by transactions.
- How many customers came through the door?
- What was the conversion rate?
- What was the average transaction value?
- How many pieces were sold?
Those measures will remain important. But another set of questions may become equally valuable.
- How many customers remain connected after the sale?
- How many assets sold five years ago are still connected to the retailer?
- How many customers return for servicing, valuation updates, repairs or insurance?
- And when the customer next needs jewellery advice, which retailer do they think of first?
Businesses that can answer those questions may find that some of the greatest untapped value in jewellery retail isn’t in the next new customer.
It may already be sitting in the jewellery boxes and watch collections of the customers they have served for years.
For TH March and ValuCert™, this collaboration is designed to explore that opportunity.
For the wider trade, it may mark another step toward a model in which the jewellery sale is no longer seen as the end of the customer journey.
It is the beginning of one.