Read the copy timeline
Every page in this section adds records of one kind: transactions, valuations, insurance, loans, maintenance, provenance, moves, documents. The timeline is where they come back together. It merges every record on a copy into one chronological story, so you read what happened rather than checking eight separate lists.
This is a reading page. Nothing here creates or changes data.
One copy at a time
The History tab of an item always shows one copy at a time. That is deliberate: history belongs to the physical object, not to the item. If Priya owned two 1968 Speedmasters, each would have its own purchases, services, and travels, and blending them would make both stories false.
Open an item, go to History, and pick the copy you want from the copy selector. Everything on the tab, the timeline and the per record sections, now belongs to that copy.
The timeline view
The timeline is the default view. It interleaves every kind of record into a single feed, newest first: a valuation next to the loan that prompted it, a condition change next to the service that caused it.
Each entry shows what kind of record it is, when it happened, and the key facts. Entries link back to the full record, so the timeline is also your fastest way to navigate a well documented copy.
Reading the Speedmaster's timeline top to bottom, Priya sees: the move to the safe, the market valuation that prompted it, the exhibition loan and its return, the movement service, the insurance policy, and at the bottom, the auction purchase where her part of the story began.
The timeline reads newest first, like a feed. Provenance on its own reads oldest first, like a narrative. Same records, two directions, each natural for its purpose.
The default view and the complete view
By default the timeline shows the meaningful story: acquisitions, valuations, loans, significant work. Routine entries, such as ordinary moves and routine maintenance, stay out of the way.
Switch to the complete view to see everything, every move and every cleaning included. You can also filter the timeline to one kind of record when you are looking for something specific.
The per record sections
Beside the timeline, each record type keeps its own section: Transactions, Valuations, Insurance, Loans, Maintenance, Provenance, Locations, and Documents. Use the timeline to read the story and spot things; use the sections for focused work on one kind of record, which is where the how to pages in this section do their adding and editing.
Where to next
- Start a copy's story with its money and value in Record what you paid and what it is worth.
- See a complete worked example, from purchase to provenance, in the tutorial Track the full life of a valuable item.
- Wondering why history is append only? Revisit A copy's history explained.