Some lovely young people came by today. I’ve been setting up security cameras inside and outside of our house and enjoyed this screenshot which caught a cellist leaving and Martin returning a viola to the storeroom.
In addition to the video cameras, we have a ‘Grade 3’ intruder alarm which is monitored 24 hours a day by a control station. Any intruder would quickly trip some of the many sensors and the police would be called automatically. The control centre also phones our mobiles if there is any kind of minor fault – we can then check the video remotely and assess whether we need to take any action.
In fact we don’t expect to have things stolen, as it would be hard for anyone to make money selling our violins or bows. Everything is very identifiable as it is photographed in detail. There is also good collaboration within the violin trade to track missing instruments – shops and dealers always keep an eye out for things which are known to have been stolen. You hear many stories of violins being stolen on trains or in cafes but a remarkable number of the valuable ones find their way back to their owners because they are too hot for thieves to handle. However, a high level of security helps with our insurance premiums and we are also very conscious that much of our stock is on consignment – it still belongs to the original owners until it is sold – and we feel a particular duty of care for those instruments.
Martin Swan Violins