Kessler Uhren GmbH

The Problem#

• When a watch collector dies, the family often has no idea what the collection is worth — or even what it contains
• Watches may be stored in safes, bank deposit boxes, or scattered across properties in Switzerland and Germany
• Kessler’s specialists currently catalogue, authenticate, and value each piece manually, producing a PDF valuation report
• The solicitor re-keys the values from the PDF, and cannot easily share the catalogue with other potential buyers for competitive bids
• The entire supply chain from “collector dies” to “watches reach the right buyer” is opaque and inefficient

How They’d Use INHERIT#

• Each watch is an asset.json entry with category: "collectibles" and subcategory: "watches", with photographs, condition grades, and authentication certificates attached via common/media.json
• The collection as a whole is an asset-collection.json with disposalStrategy — "sell_as_collection", "sell_individually", or "dealer_bids" for competitive offers
• Valuations use valuation.json with providerType: "dealer", method: "comparable_sales" or "expert_opinion", and valuationPurpose: "date_of_death" for probate
• Kessler’s interest in purchasing specific pieces is recorded in dealer-interest.json, with offerStatus progressing from "standing_interest" through "written_offer" to "accepted" or "declined"
• The switzerland extension handles Swiss-specific succession rules — forced heirship for spouse and children under the Swiss Civil Code
• The catalogue.json schema links assets to published sale catalogues, creating a complete provenance trail

The Integration#

• Bidirectional: Kessler imports INHERIT documents from solicitors (receiving the collection inventory), adds valuations and dealer interest records, and returns the enriched document
• The structured format allows the family’s solicitor to share the catalogue with multiple dealers for competitive bidding — impossible with PDF reports
• Other dealers can express interest via dealer-interest.json, creating a transparent market

The Business Case#

• Structured catalogues with provenance data command a 10–15% premium at resale compared to paper-only documentation
• Across 30–40 collections per year averaging CHF 250,000 per collection, this represents approximately CHF 1 million in additional value realised for estates
• Kessler’s competitive advantage is the structured catalogue — families increasingly choose dealers who can provide machine-readable valuations to their solicitor
• The transparent bidding process benefits families and builds trust in the dealer relationship

Before / After#

Without INHERIT:

1. Collector dies — family finds watches in a safe but doesn’t know their value
2. Family contacts Kessler, who sends specialists to catalogue and value each piece in person
3. Kessler produces a PDF valuation report and sends it to the solicitor
4. Solicitor re-keys every value; cannot easily share the catalogue with other dealers for competitive bids
5. Family accepts Kessler’s offer without knowing whether it’s the best available price

With INHERIT:

1. Collector dies — family contacts Kessler for cataloguing and valuation
2. Kessler creates structured asset.json entries with valuations, provenance, and dealer-interest.json records
3. Solicitor receives the INHERIT document and shares it with multiple dealers for competitive bids
4. Each dealer’s interest and offers are recorded transparently in the same document
5. Family gets the best price; the complete provenance chain adds a 10–15% premium