Protecting one’s assets is a primal urge, nearly as strong as the survival instinct. Also irresistible is the desire to keep the things you love near at hand to enjoy whenever you like, instead of in a bank vault. The science of safekeeping continues to evolve, as manufacturers seek to develop barriers impervious to increasingly sophisticated safecrackers. But a system of standards helps owners determine how to purchase appropriate protection.

Micah Welch, owner of Armor Safe & Vault Service in North Miami, Fla., explains that the safes in his Apex line for residential use start at a European standard of Grade 3: “This is considered a real safe, not just a steel box with a lock on it.” Welch describes a Grade 3 as suitable for protecting up to $500,000 in assets, with an exterior that resists tools, hammers, chisels, wedges, and drills working to do damage for as long as 30 minutes.

Whether your safe is for watches and jewelry, guns and ammunition, or other valuables, you can lock onto these ideas, which go far beyond a steel box. Before purchasing a safe, check with your insurance company for the proper safety rating required by your policy.

Döttling
Bel-Air Magnus
A Montana ranch owner had detailed specifications for his new safe, as most buyers of safes do. Unlike most, the rancher wanted the safe protecting his gun collection to be covered with cow skins from his own cows and lined with wood from his own forest. He enlisted the venerable German firm Döttling (www.doettling.com) to customize its high-security Bel-Air Magnus for this attention-grabbing piece. The Magnus, which features doors that open from the center and an electronic locking system, is manufactured to the strictest German industrial standard and fulfills all insurance requirements. It measures approximately 5.5 by 4 by 2 feet, and weighs about 3,000 pounds.
Price: 220,000 euros (about $279,000), customized

BROWN SAFE MANUFACTURING
Chronos 4218
Brown (www.brownsafe.com) builds a full line of impregnable products to order at its facility near San Diego, Calif., and its clients include homeowners, filmmakers (the company provides vault doors, safes, and consultations for TV shows and on movie sets), and the military. Technology developed for the latter—providing armored protection in high-risk locations—also has its place in the Chronos watch and jewelry line, which features ballistic armor plating, four-way solid titanium locking bolts, alarm system integration, and GPS tracking. The model shown (48 by 24 by 26 inches, exterior measurements; 1,350 pounds) is wrapped in carbon fiber and configured with a panel for eight watches.
Price: $58,750, base price, includes five drawers. Carbon fiber trim, watch winders, additional features extra

LUXURY SAFES CO.
Antique German Two-Door Safe
The safe itself can be considered an asset if you’re an antiques collector. Luxury Safes Co. (www.luxury-safes-company.com) locates, acquires, and restores 19th-century safes at its German headquarters. The interiors can be equipped with modern conveniences such as watch winders or climate-control devices for cigars. Some owners opt to outfit the antiques as minibars for choice spirits. The safe shown here was built in 1880 in Berlin, and was acquired from a clan in France. The top portion of the wood cabinet conceals the steel safe, which in turn holds two additional steel lockers decorated with wood. Two sub-locks must be opened before the main lock can be accessed with a separate pin key, and two sets of keys are provided. Crowning the top is a regal carved lion.
Price: 79,000 euros (about $100,150)

TRAUM SAFE
Metropolitan and Legacy
When Sheela Murthy was 21 and traveling through Europe, her great-grandmother’s gift of a pair of heirloom earrings was stolen along with their place of safekeeping—Murthy’s purse. Although she went on to acquire a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, the loss motivated Murthy to found Traum Safe (www.traumsafe.com) specifically to protect valuables in the home. Currently the company’s research efforts include experimenting with lava as a fireproof material. While the safes are based on German and Swiss technology, Murthy says, “we wanted to make [using a safe] a comfortable experience, pleasurable to use.” To that end, Traum safes are built to order, with lacquered exteriors and burnished illuminated interiors with a mirror behind each door. The Metropolitan, at right, intended for an urban dwelling, is shown here in Wine Crimson lacquer with European ash burl wood and gold hardware. Above is a larger Legacy model outfitted as a gentleman’s safe with Traum custom watch winders and compartments for cuff links, belt buckles, pens, and documents. Traum has showrooms in New York and Los Angeles.
Price: Metropolitan version shown, $60,000; Legacy version shown, $101,000. Standard offerings range from $35,000 to $205,000; custom models and vault rooms vary in price.

STOCKINGER
for Bentley—Arnage
If you wish your watches could nestle in a Bentley Arnage as they turn on their winders, then this safe fulfills that fantasy. Stockinger (www.stockinger.com), based near Munich, Germany, offers a line of watch safes inspired by Bentley in a limited edition of 200 for the Arnage and another 200 for a Continental version. Buyers choose from the range of Bentley exterior paint colors and trim panels of bird’s eye maple or burr walnut; the interior is suede. Measuring 47 by 22 by 20 inches, this Arnage weighs only 1,067 pounds, about a third of its namesake’s heft. The safe has a winding capacity for eight watches, and it features Stockinger’s patented Stocktronic electronic locking system, which can be programmed to trigger a silent alarm. As with the automobile, once you unlock this Arnage, you can access the interior by pulling on a Bentley door handle.
Price: 125,000 euros (about $158,000)

APEX
High-Security Safes
The owner of Armor Safe & Vault, which is based in North Miami, Fla., and services both commercial and residential safes and vaults, will launch a customized line of luxury residential safes in the coming months. A prototype, shown here in Tiffany blue, represents the company’s new Apex (www.apexsafes.com) brand of high-security safes. Providing a protection level of a European Grade 3 or higher, the line features electronic locks imported from Germany, “the type used by Swiss banks,” says Apex owner Micah Welch. They can be integrated with a home’s alarm and video surveillance systems. Options for customization include the addition of watch winders, exotic wood interiors, GPS units for tracking, and a time lock that is programmable 20 to 30 years into the future.
Price: $25,000 to $95,000

EMPIRE SAFE CO.
Diamond Series
Located a few blocks from New York’s diamond district, Empire Safe (www.empiresafe.com) is deeply entrenched in the commercial jewelry industry, with a client list that includes De Beers and Tiffany & Co. “Our main business is the jewelry industry, and we specialize in protecting valuables worth $1 million to $100 million,” says Richard Krasilovsky, president and CEO. Empire, founded in 1904, is now launching a line of residential safes that incorporate technology similar to that used by companies storing large quantities of precious stones and metals. The Diamond Series home safes have the torch- and drill-resistant barrier material used in commercial safes and required by Lloyd’s and other insurers. The interiors are customizable, and a choice of UL-listed locks is available. One of these is mounted behind a glass plate, and if the glass is broken, the safe releases relocking devices before the lock is even touched. This feature, the company says, makes the safe virtually impossible to burglarize. Shown here is Model DIA3016, which is about 35 by 21 by 21 inches and weighs 1,100 pounds. 
Price: $32,000