Climate-controlled chain of custody that moves a Rothko from a collector's living room back through customs, condition reporting, and crating — without a single new scratch on the frame.
Condition Report Fields
What this means for your object
Every pickup begins with a 47-field condition report completed by an AIC-certified handler. Pre-existing damage is photographed at 48MP, catalogued against the sale lot record, and co-signed by the collector before a single strap is tightened.
For auction house operations managers reconciling post-sale returns, this means the chain-of-custody dispute window closes at the front door — not six weeks later when the buyer's conservator calls.
"The pre-transit condition report caught a hairline crack in the gilt frame that our own registrar had missed. That documentation saved a six-figure insurance dispute."
Condition Report Template
The exact 47-field form our handlers complete at every custody transfer. Used by 3 of the top 10 auction houses.
Engineering the case
Every case is built from scratch. Our crating team reads the condition report before cutting a single sheet of Baltic birch. A Cy Twombly on unstretched linen gets a different internal geometry than a marble bust — same acid-free tissue, different foam profile, different strap placement.
The embedded 3-axis shock sensor logs peak g-force at every handoff. If a loader drops a pallet three rows over, the data is timestamped and geotagged before the forklift moves again.
Peace of mind in transit
Every shipment transmits temperature, humidity, light exposure, and shock data to a client-accessible dashboard. If the hold temperature on a transatlantic flight drifts above 72°F, your registrar receives a notification before the plane lands.
For gallery directors handling damaged-in-transit claims, the 7-year data archive is insurance-admissible evidence. The timestamp of every sensor reading is legally defensible in 34 jurisdictions.
Brokerage Coverage
Delivery Sign-Off Protocol
The final handoff
We don't consider a return complete until the post-transit condition report is co-signed in the presence of the receiving party. Every field from the pre-transit report is revisited. Any variance is photographed and documented before the crate leaves the room.
For estate executors unwinding collections across three continents, our customs brokerage desk handles ATA Carnets, temporary admission protocols, and permanent import filings in 34 countries — so the object clears customs as smoothly as it left the collector's wall.
"Three Basquiats, New York to Geneva to Tokyo in 11 weeks. Every customs document was filed before the crate left the previous city. Zero holds, zero damage."
"The delivery sign-off protocol is the only reason our insurer renewed our transit rider without a premium increase after last year's carrier incident."
Return Summary
By the time you've read this far, you've seen our entire service rendered as a single logistics document. That's exactly how we operate. Every return case is a manifest, every handoff is a signature, every object arrives with its history intact.