... at least in the United States? The NY Times article starts like this: "In the early 1980s, when Philip Poniz moved to New Jersey from Colorado, he needed a well-protected place to stash his collection of rare watches. He had been gathering unusual pieces since he was a teenager in 1960s Poland, fascinated by their intricate mechanics. His hobby became his profession, and by the time of his relocation, Mr. Poniz was an internationally known expert in the history and restoration of high-end timepieces." Seems that there are little protections for safety deposits in the US, though the rate at which things are stolen still seems to be less than a home burglary. That's why I keep my watches on me at all times, Frank Abagnale Sr. style. Full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/...html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage
I just started reading this. I got a safety deposit box a few years ago, and was very disappointed to find that the bank I was setting up at just had a bunch of plastic boxes that sat inside the larger metal structure. I really wanted the movie experience of a grand vault like in that article and awesome metal boxes. I was only tossing in some USB back ups of family photos and a few generally unimportant but inconvenient documents to replace if my house burned down so I didn't bother to go find a different place to store things.
Yep they're definitely not infallible - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatton_Garden_safe_deposit_burglary