Recommendation for a Home Safe

Gopher

Much appreciated, BlackTalon! The diversion approach is quite interesting and sounds effective. Just put some lower-value items in there.

If foregoing a safe, what, may I ask, do you do to keep your watches safe at home?

BlackTalon

Most seem to get into how easy they are to steal, and if you get one that is well-anchored in place some potential thieves may just hold a knife to the throat of someone in your family while you open the safe for them. But there are still people that have them.

cvalue13

Spend some time around YouTube to find some home security professionals discussing the various considerations.

for example, you’ll learn that what people colloquially call a “safe” and that may look like a “safe” might not be what you expect.

Most people only own what are technically classified as a “security cabinet” (which are, shockingly, fairly easy to open) rather than a true safe (which are very heavy and large compared to their relatively small interior space).

There’s something to be said for a combined approach of a security cabinet for keeping out the non-professionals, while deterring the success of professionals by distributing your small valuables in many different hiding spaces or locations

janice&fred

Bingo. that's why I would never recommend a stationary safe unless everyone in the house, including domestic helpers know the combination. this will prevent anyone getting killed by some desperado who suspects his victims are holding out on him. of course everyone knowing the combination is also impractical as well. I am basically against any home safes as they are either potentially removeable during a burglary or deadly if a home invasion takes place. we do have a small one and as others pointed out it is merely bait to be snatched and run away with. I also leave a few hundred bucks in my top drawer of our dresser figuring a perp will just grab it and cheese-it along with the "safe" 😁

timoss

Does storing your watches in a safe (or not) impact your watch insurance, though?

There are also safes meant for preventing theft and ones that prevent destruction in a fire, or both. I think the latter would be very much worth having...

KeithS

I received a discount on my watch insurance for having a monitored home security system. Having a safe would not have impacted the premium.

Evitzee

Insurance is another discussion. Do you really need it? Too many people overinsure for their portable possessions like watches, imo.

A safe that protects paper documents from destruction is usually filled with a damp, concrete like substance in the walls, not good for storing items like watches due to humidity.

A ArmbandUhr69

There seems to be enough posts on here about safes and burglary. Every one has an opinion. Some from experience and some based on whispers and rumours. I would ask the basic question, why is access to the house so easy? It has been pointed out that family in the house (who one would assume are the houses most valuable contents) are vulnerable so surely that is the first issue before securing trinkets.

Having sorted that out, a safe needs to be large enough to hold the range of valuables that need to be secured. Bedside table size is probably the minimum if not bigger.

Crims need some indication that you are worth robbing and that valuables are on-site rather than in a bank or such. It also seems that the safe installers are prime suspects when the hidden location is so readily known. In general, most burglaries are either opportunistic or hoping for car keys etc. There are not so many of us that have assets so vast that a military style operation is worth the while.

My solutions;
Make your house far more secure. The first line of defence.
Get a large professional safe with fire and flood rating, there is every chance that one of those events will be the cause of the loss of your valuables inc papers etc.
Install the safe yourself if you have the skills, failing that use a very good security company rather than the cheapest you can find. The less people who know, the better. For most of us, there is no need to insure those contents as it then lists a safe on the insurance documents. In general, you are less likely to lose out than through fighting insurance companies.
Be extremely ingenious about location.
When all else fails, the dummy baby safe and some out of date credit cards etc, bit of cash may deflect the search if it was an opportunistic visit.

JimInOz

Correct!
We have a fire safe for documents/keys etc. I went to get our passports out for a trip and they were almost dripping and were quite swollen.

I put a "Thirsty Hippo" dehumidifier in the safe and closed it. Two or three days later I checked it and it was full of water, about 500ml 😲