Jewels at the airport: carrying and wearing valuables
Holidays are the perfect time to show off and combine our precious jewels. When traveling by plane, the matter of how to carry and wear jewelry at the airport becomes crucial.
Indeed, airports have very specific rules for carrying precious metals. To travel with jewelry by plane, it is wise to prepare for check-in, security checks, and customs declarations.
Here are three guiding tips for carrying your jewelry on a plane and enjoying your well-deserved rest.
1. Carrying jewelry at check-in
The first rule for carrying and wearing jewelry at the airport is to keep them in your hand luggage.
Leaving jewelry at check-in in the suitcase to be checked, mixed with clothes, means risking lost luggage.
There are practical and tidy solutions to store jewelry in hand luggage, such as rolls or travel jewelry cases. You can choose from various space-saving models designed to hold rings, earrings, bracelets, and necklaces together. For long pearl or stone necklaces, it is best to use separate pouches.
For travel watch cases, you can opt for soft or hard models with padding to protect them from bumps and scratches depending on their sentimental and monetary value.
2. Wearing jewelry at security checks
If we wear jewelry on the day of departure, we must successfully pass the metal detector.
Jewelry made of gold and silver, such as wristwatches, can be detected as conductive or magnetic metals. Wearing jewelry while waiting in line at security checks risks lengthening the time for all travelers.
The advice is to remove the jewelry we are wearing while in line at security checks and place them in the designated trays, preferably in a separate pouch or in the jewelry case within the hand luggage. During this process, let’s avoid prying eyes!
It is not recommended to wear bulky and heavy jewelry at the airport on the day of departure. A delicate chain with a small gem and minimal rings can remain on the skin. The metal detector is sensitive to weight, so a few grams of metal might escape detection.
3. Carrying jewelry between airport and customs
To move with jewelry and wear it comfortably at the airport, the departure and destination airports matter.
If we travel within the EU with jewelry, due to the free movement of goods, no customs declarations are required. The usual limits for cash, tobacco, and alcohol do not apply.
The situation is different if we travel with jewelry to non-EU countries. Returning to Italy from a non-EU country by plane, we have the right to carry jewelry for personal use up to a maximum value of 430 euros to be exempt from duties. Note that this is a maximum limit that applies to the total imported goods, including jewelry!
In other countries, the rules vary. For the U.S., for example, if we buy a watch or jewelry abroad regardless of value, we must declare it at customs, but we do not automatically pay duties due to CBP exemptions.
