Ultimate & One-off Freestanding Safes

Huw Eastwood · 2014-04-11T13:27:20+00:00

Hello everyone, here’s a subject I’ve discussed with many people countless times over the years, and thought it’d be a good one to get some discussion going on here with members world-wide. Over the years a few of the big safe manufacturers have produced an ‘ultimate’ bespoke safe for unique circumstances, usually at the request of a large banking institution or private corporation. I’m talking free standing safes here, and not ‘walk-in’ strong rooms or vaults, which have of course been covered many times in other threads. By ‘ultimate safe’ I’m referring to unique one-offs or small-run (2 or 3 units for example) which are constructed differently and above a manufacturers standard production ‘high grade’ safes. I’m not thinking of the countless so-called ‘luxury’ safes on the European market, as these are mostly just re-worked ‘badge engineered’ versions of other manufacturers euro grade models. I remember seeing a safe on the net which I think was presented to the Vatican as a gift, for use by the Pope- again from what I could see it was yet another re-worked euro grader made by someone else, fitted with pointless gimmickry and it’s 1 or 2 million price tag was meaningless, likewise another euro grader a few years back, (which I still fall off my chair laughing when I think about it) ‘styled’ like a Bugatti Veyron and actually licensed and endorsed by the company (with an equally ridiculous price tag). I’m not thinking of safes with ridiculous paint jobs, any of the so-called luxury models with plush interiors and automatic watch winders, carbon-fibre cladding etc. Also exempt is anything bling- 18K gold S&G combo dials with baguette diamonds set around the bezel (ohh yes- you’d be amazed) aren’t what I’m talking here, I’m thinking of ultimate security safes built 100% for all-out protective security and defence. I’ll start things off with a great candidate for number 1: 1- 1980s SLS Gem This one, for me at least, is undisputable as only 2 were ever made, and both examples were uniquely constructed, and not just based on one of their existing top of the range Bankers Treasury models. They also produced a slightly lesser ‘Sapphire’ version of which a few more units were made. I think both were produced in the mid 1980s, and that one of the Gems was destined for HM the Queen at Buckingham Palace, and the other for private use in the Middle East. The latter example I think ended up at a US dealer and was offered for sale at about $45~$50,000 some years back. A truly serious safe of massive construction- although relatively small in terms of overall size, the protective door slab and walls were 8 inches thick, and it featured SLS’s usual aluramic (aluminium with ceramic) armour with glass plates and randomly positioned live and dead relockers. 2- 1929 Chatwood CB Quality Here’s another of which only 2 were ever made. This one has been briefly covered in a post elsewhere on here, but surprisingly had little reaction. You can see a couple of very rare pictures kindly posted by safeman on his ‘Very special Chatwood’ thread. Produced purely at the unique request of the Commercial Bank of Scotland, ( the CB stands for commercial bank),both were identical and nothing short of monstrous in size and construction. Much larger sized than the SLS Gem, with 10 inch thick door slab and 10 inch walls and a weight of about 7 tons, this beautiful Chatwood is possibly the largest and heaviest free stander ever made? Also interesting is despite a door 15 inches thick overall, they didn’t give it crane hinges and huge capstan handles ‘vault door style’, it just had an ordinary brass loop handle, standard hinges and looked pretty similar to one of their early Diamond safes. 3- Tann Diamond This model started as a one-off special commissioned by DeBeers for storage of their most valuable stones at their London HQ. Featuring heavier walls and defences than their Super Treasury, the Diamond started out as a single bespoke unit but was so successful it resulted with DeBeers requesting several more. Tann’s then went on to produce an altered, toned-down version of it as their standard top-of-the range safe above the Bankers and Treasury models. Other possible candidates: 4- Chubb With such a long and prestigious history I think there must be many Chubb examples which we simply never got to hear about, especially in terms of those produced for Royal use. Their ‘bird cage’ built to secure the Ko-I-Noor (think that’s how you spell it) diamond at the 1851 Great Exhibition is definitely one worthy of mention, but the overall principle it employed isn’t really a ‘free standing’ safe as such. Likewise after the famous Cornhill robbery and other similar hold-ups they pioneered new secure containers for bullion and cash, but these were mostly heavy rectangular chests and strong boxes, and not really free standing safes proper. Chubb certainly made their mark with bespoke strong room and vault installations worldwide, but I’m not aware of any one-off ultimate safes to include here. Anyone know of any? 5- Fichet- Le Super Fichet? Not sure of this one- there’s some old literature floating around which might suggest this was just a very expensive top-of-the range model and not a commissioned one-off. They made a very heavy safe in the mid 1920s which I think was model 242. had a very thick stepped door and a weight of about 2500 kg- absolutely incredible for the size of the safe. Some suggest the later ‘Le Super Fichet’ of 1928 was a one-off improved version of the 242, but I don’t know for sure. Anyone know anymore? There must be many others from all those European and American manufacturers, so it’d be great to hear what you guys can add from around the world 🙁happy):

Huw Eastwood

Thinking back there was also a revamped range for the Euro grades which had gem themed names like ruby, sapphire and emerald.

The very top model was a beast- IIRC Churchill’s proudly labelled it the highest rated underfloor safe available in Europe and the World, AFAIR. It had a 2 or 3 inch TDR slab over the top of the body and I remember the installation spec was exact and critical. Not sure without digging out old brochures but this model might also have featured the phosphor bronze locking ring as used on the earlier Banker.

Huw Eastwood

successor to the QZ serial Sovereigns

Safeone

Thanks for posting the Financier info. Were these prefixed WZ and were they actually insurance rated the same as the ‘proper’ QZ Sovereigns as the brochure hints at ?

Oh and is the weight similar to that of the Sovereign ?

Paul Prescott

The Financier must be very rare as they came along not that long before the UK factory closed as I recall ? Anyone seen one ?

Huw Eastwood

Hello Safeone, found it yesterday and thought it might be of interest. I’m unsure on the WZ prefix as I can’t remember seeing any, but yes they used to get a similar rating from insurers IIRC, before everything changed when the euro gradings came in of course.

Weights were 2150 kg for the 5520 and 3030 kg for the 6428. Just realised what I’ve done as the weights are on there, I forgot to post the back cover with the dimensions. I’ll see what I can do.

Huw Eastwood

Here ya go, missed off the back page with the dims

Safeone

   Found this.The

number at the end
is the £'s cash insurance
rating

PREFIX

MODEL

STAFFORD

  

  

   HT

   HERITAGE

   1

  

  

   SDD

   VIPER ELITE

   1

  

  

   TZ or TY

   LICHFIELD 

   3

  

  

   V1

   DUPLEX MINOR

   6

  

  

   V2

   DUPLEX MAJOR

   4

  

  

   SDB

   COBRA ELITE

   4

  

  

   L or VZ

   LEAMINGTON 

   5

  

  

   VX

   LEAMINGTON MK II

   6

  

  

   SMF

   EUROSAFE GRADE 0

   6

  

  

   LZ

   RENOWN

   10

  

  

   P

   COMMERCE EDR

   10

  

  

   SZ or ZZ

   CONQUEROR

   10

  

  

   SMA

   EUROSAFE GRADE 1

   10

  

  

   SMG

   EUROSAFE GRADE 1 MK II

   10

  

  

   PZ

   CASTELLE

   17.5

  

  

   X

   TDR COFFER

   17.5

  

  

   RZ

   COMMERCE EUROSAFE

   17.5

  

  

   R

   VANGUARD

   17.5

  

  

   SMB

   GRADE 2

   17.5

  

  

   A

   STANDARD TDR

   17.5

  

  

   MZ

   RESOLUTE

   35

  

  

   SMC

   GRADE 3

   35

  

  

   T

   TRIDENT

   60

  

  

   XZ

   BANKERS II

   60

  

  

   SMD

   GRADE 4

   60

  

  

   U

   BANKERY TREASURY

   100

  

  

   UZ

   TREASURY MK II

   100

  

  

   SME

   GRADE 5

   100

  

  

   QZ

   SOVEREIGN

   150

  

  

   WZ

   FINANCIER

   150

Huw Eastwood

oldlock wrote
The Financier must be very rare as they came along not that long before the UK factory closed as I recall ? Anyone seen one ?

Looking at the back page of the brochure its before 1995 as all the UK STD codes changed to ‘01’, its got the old 0902 codes printed for Wolverhampton.

Not sure when did the factory officially close? I can remember a lot of confusion around that time as production was already in full swing overseas.

Bit of useless information but just so happens that Core Engineering in Cardiff ended up with the massive brake press from the Wolverhampton factory.

[unknown]

Huw Eastwood

To all the people that like the big ones, this just showed up on e-bay

Chubby

It seems to have disappeared again!

Huw Eastwood

Chubby wrote
It seems to have disappeared again!

Chubby, i have followed this forum for a couple of years and just recently joined. I have some questions regarding the Chubb Resolute, in particular the barrier material, any chance you could help me with this. Jaden.

[unknown]

wylk

Chubby wrote
It seems to have disappeared again!

This simplified URL might be better:

Somehow it ended up in Miami. 7800 pounds. US $10,200.01 “Buy It Now.” Local pickup only of course!

[unknown]

Safeone

jaden wrote
Chubby, i have followed this forum for a couple of years and just recently joined. I have some questions regarding the Chubb Resolute, in particular the barrier material, any chance you could help me with this. Jaden.

Link below contains lots of info.

[unknown]

Huw Eastwood

Thank you

Safeone

Now they are either very small people or that is one big safe !!

The stated weight dissapoints me. 4000 lbs which by my quick reconing is around 1.8 tonne.

Grayhair

Safeone wrote
… The stated weight dissapoints me. 4000 lbs which by my quick reconing is around 1.8 tonne.

Judging by the dial location, this is a scaled-up unit built for advertising and public relations purposes. Had they fully scaled-up everything, the weight would probably hinder the value, for its intended purposes.

[unknown]

Chubby

Yes, it is big interms of volume, but certainly not a heavy duty safe.

Safeone

Grayhair wrote
Judging by the dial location, this is a scaled-up unit built for advertising and public relations purposes. Had they fully scaled-up everything, the weight would probably hinder the value, for its intended purposes.

My thoughts echo yours but we are wrong ! They have sold three of these at $15,000 each. Dimensions wise it stands 120″ high x 72″ wide x 48″ deep giving a volume of 240 cubic feet ! It has 24 × 2.5″ locking bolts. It is actually a gun cabinet but hey its worthy of mention dont you think

[unknown]

Chubby

If I needed that much secure storage space I would certainly build a strongroom.

Safeone

Chubby wrote
If I needed that much secure storage space I would certainly build a strongroom.

Yeah but seeing how this is a “freestanding safe” thread it wouldnt qualify would it :-)

[unknown]

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