A Quick Guide to Jewelry Safes
Even if you have items in your jewelry collection that aren’t worth much in monetary terms, but are precious to you for sentimental reasons, they’re no less worthy of protection than a diamond tiara worth thousands of dollars. You can’t put a price on some items you hold dear, and one of the best ways of keeping expensive and/or precious jewelry protected from theft and fire, is with a jewelry safe.
What to look for in a jewelry safe
All safes need to be as resistant to theft as they can possibly be, meaning that they remain impenetrable even to a burglar using tools to break their way in.
Most safe specialists will recommend that a jewelry safe for home be TL-30 rated, which will prevent forcible entry using mechanical or electrical tools for at least 30 minutes. While you can opt for a TL-15 rating (preventing forcible entry for up to 15 minutes), a persistent and determined burglar may still be able to get in, particularly if they’re in your home while it’s empty or you’re away on vacation, and can work without the worry of being interrupted.
In the US, the most recognized certification for safes is from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), but other certifications exist and may be just as reliable; talk to your safe stockiest and installer about the certifications available and their veracity. It’s important to always make sure that the safe you’re about to buy, has a verified rating.
Should a jewelry safe be fire resistant?
Absolutely. If you’re going to invest in a safe, you should always try and buy one that gives the highest level of protection against theft and fire, and the best safe for your precious and/or valuable items of jewelry is one with a TL-30 rating and which is fire resistant for up to 2 hours.
If you don’t invest in a high security safe, you could argue that you might as well simply lock your jewelry in a box somewhere, or hide it under your bed! If you’re serious about protecting your jewelry, you need to be serious about the type of safe you buy. And while you might not believe that you’ll ever be the victim of a home theft or fire, complacency isn’t recommended when it comes to protecting items you hold dear. Following a lot of consideration as to what you can afford and what would best suit your needs, and plenty of advice from a safe specialist, you should be able to purchase a jewelry safe that will give you many years of reliable security and convenience.