For lawyers, executors, private bankers and family offices

Art, watches and jewellery in your mandate: reliably valued, properly documented, discreetly handled.

When art or luxury assets appear in an estate, a divorce or a wealth structure, someone has to establish the value reliably and stand behind it. I act as external collection officer for your clients – neutral, documented, with no sales interest of my own. No inventory, no auction mandate, no commission from the other side.

Typical situations

• Inventory valuation in an estate
• Market value versus insurance value in the division of an estate
• Liquidity needs from a collection – art loan instead of sale
• Household dissolution
• Collection strategy for the next generation

Three questions that keep coming up in practice

Art in an estate: how an executor sets the inventory value – and is liable for it

The executor must draw up the inventory completely and correctly. With art, watches and jewellery, “correctly” is not self-evident: the value of a work depends on provenance, condition, authenticity and the current market – and all four can change between the inventory date and the division.

I see three mistakes regularly. First, old insurance values are carried over; they reflect replacement value, not market value. Second, purchase invoices are read as proof of value, although the market for an artist may have turned since. Third, an auction house is asked for an “estimate” – free of charge, but a consignment estimate with its own interest, not a neutral valuation.

What protects the executor: a dated, reasoned valuation by an independent expert that discloses method, comparables and uncertainties. For significant works, a documented condition check and – where needed – a cross-check by a specialist. The inventory value then cannot be challenged later, even if an heir sells a work years afterwards at a different price.

Insurance value or market value: which figure belongs in the division of an estate?

The most common confusion in an estate. The insurance value is a replacement value: what it costs to replace the work with an equivalent in the event of loss – including dealer margin, search effort and a safety premium. For art it is typically well above what a sale actually yields.

The market value is the price that can be achieved in a sale under normal conditions within a reasonable period – net of what the sales channel costs. For the division of an estate, equalisation and most tax purposes, this is the relevant figure. Using the insurance policy as a basis systematically disadvantages the heir who takes over the work.

In practice I have both values stated and reasoned. The insurance value remains relevant for the policy, the market value for the division. Where one heir wishes to take over a work and the others are paid out, the question of which sales channel underlies the market value must also be settled – auction, private sale or gallery produce different net proceeds. That belongs in the valuation, not in the dispute afterwards.

Art in a family office: why the collection needs governance like any other asset class

In many family fortunes the collection is the least documented position. There is no complete inventory, insurance values are ten years old, purchase invoices sit with three different people, and nobody knows which works are pledged, on loan or already promised. As long as nothing happens, no one notices. At the first inheritance, a divorce or a liquidity need, it becomes expensive.

Collection governance is not an art project but administration: an inventory with location, condition, provenance and value; a valuation cycle that matches insurance and tax; clear rules on who decides on acquisitions, sales, loans and pledges; and a succession arrangement that sets out whether the collection stays together, is divided or sold – and who decides.

My role is that of the external collection officer: I build the inventory, keep values current, prepare decisions and carry out sales or acquisitions discreetly. The family office retains control but has a counterpart who understands the work and at the same time thinks through the financial, tax and legal consequences.

Typical mandates

Anonymised – discretion is part of the mandate.

Family office

Building a collection strategy for a family office: a clear line, a complete inventory, current insurance values and an acquisition plan for the coming years – as external collection officer.

If you need a reliable assessment in a mandate, contact me directly. First conversation confidential and without obligation.