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  1. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Frankfurt Main
    Posts
    705
    Country: Germany

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    Not really "super" thick and heavy but featuring a Kromer Protector Differntial lock

    Quite a nice piece if you ask me, can be seen in the 125 years of Garny (1938) and 150 years of Garny (1963) book.

    PS: I have never seen nor do I know if such a safe still exists.

    Hope you enjoy!

    Adrian
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    Last edited by Adrian Weber; 17-04-14 at 11:52 PM.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    1,754
    Country: Wales

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    Thanks safeman & Adrian. Keep them coming.....

    The Rosengrens is amazing- I wonder what GP would have made of it..........I thus wonder, if indeed the heavy bolt work did move with such pleasantness as it's appearance?

    I think we need a new thread on here for ornate safes like that. George price did perhaps have a valid point, but many were just simple surface adornments on what were already tough and proven safes underneath, so I think they have some importance and deserve a place in history.

    A few of the old British manufacturers offered furniture and Ladies' jewel/boudoir safes, but they never seemed to match the ornamentation of the European manufacturers- Germany and Austria seemed to excel with them. Fichet also made some very ornate ones. in fact they still offered 'Louis' styled furniture safes into the early 1990s. They were based on one of their earlier compact production safes (JN20 or Egide? from memory)with the addition of cast steel 'cabriole' style legs and cast brass ornamentation. I remember being told that the wood grain effect wasn't laminated or applied veneer- it was actually hand painted on by a factory worker, and when he retired they simply dropped the range. I'll see if I can dig out a brochure- think the price was about £1200 for the bigger one back in about 1983.

    safeman- that's amazing that a Tann Diamond was attacked- they might as well have turned up with pea shooters....

    Adrian that's a great Garny safe- just when I thought there wasn't another style of bolt throw handle that hasn't been seen before you show that I've never seen the Differential version of the lock but have many Protectors- I have a soft spot for them. Most I've talked to had a real dislike for them because of the problems with re-keying and availability. The pipe keys needed regular cleaning as did the sliding shaft- that meant call-outs and work All the locks I saw were sealed to deter disassembly, but they were always so reliable it didn't really matter- to me at least, they were superb locks.

    Also, it always amazed me how many safe engineers didn't seem to get the concept of the shuttle and shaft- it's ingenious- 6 inch thick door, 3 inch long key. Likewise, 25 inch thick door, still a 3 inch long key. Simply brilliant- no foot long key stems to bend or break, no fiddling with small detachable key bits etc, and yet I was told it's purpose was everything from anti-pick to anti-explosive. Don't think so- just 3 small exposed bezel screws on the front and the whole assembly could be removed clean out the door, so I don't think it's purpose was very anti-pick or anti-explosive. The safes always had big glass plates and plenty of relockers for the explosives side, and lets face it the Kromer Protector itself provided plenty of anti-pick!

    Perhaps the early versions before the days of tempered glass plates, were fitted in such a way as to be immovable from the door. That I could understand would then give extra protection over the lock against picks and explosives, but the concept of a short compact high security key, no matter how big or thick the door is, to me at least is pure genius.

    BTW before I get timed out yet again, the SLS gem is still up for sale despite a sale price of $50,000- Lackasafe still have it listed on their site with the caption "Everything proof"

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    1,485
    Country: United States

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    Quote Originally Posted by wylk View Post
    Definitely a one-off, how about the Mosler safe that was built to hold the US constitution, bill of rights, and declaration of independence? It opened at the top and a pantograph would raise/lower the display case. It may no longer be in use, somewhere I read that security was completely revamped after 9/11. Mosler also built a model of it which was shown at various places; where is that model now?
    I found an image on eBay of this safe. Note, it does stretch the normal distinction between a safe and a vault but I agree with Mosler's calling it a safe.

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  4. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Posts
    184
    Country: Great Britain

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    Agree that the Chubb Sovereign is a beast of a safe ( QZ prefix era ) but the Chubb Financier also had / has the 150k cash rating. Think the financier had a WZ prefix if I recall correctly.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Cyberspace
    Posts
    1,318
    Country: Australia

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    Bit of an old thread - but I thought Chubb made some special Sovereigns with a stainless steel (not copper) pour ?

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Bulgaria
    Posts
    686
    Country: Bulgaria

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    I remember those old Chubb Sovereigns. The ratio of the dimensions was different from the heavy safes in their standard range. The colour scheme and everything was different- rather than just making an even heavier Bankers' Treasury they set out to do something new, and succeeded. I don't remember but presume they had the isolator boltwork.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Posts
    184
    Country: Great Britain

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    Saw a Tann Diamond in the flesh today, good Lord that is some safe !

    I own a Tann Bullion which appears to be identical to a Tann Bankers Mk 8 (cant do the Romen Numeral thingy) not sure if anyone on here knows the exact difference.

    The Bullion came with a Bankers Mk 9 which I have since sold.

    The internals on the Bullion seemed more substantial than the Mk 9 although the Mk 9 did have x-ray proof mechanisms allegedley.

    Safe insurance guru Mike Palmer informed me that the Bullion is rated the same as the Mk 8 Bankers so the difference is beyond me

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Bulgaria
    Posts
    686
    Country: Bulgaria

    Default Tann

    Yes, the diamond is quite a safe!

    From memory I think the Bullion was a "no frills" type of model. So the price was slightly lower than the equivalent banker. They used to make that wonderful double door bullion. Now that was a monster. It was effectively two safes welded together. You could leave either door open without compromising the security of the other half. I remember one dealer who had a bullion in stock and had it in a particular spot in his showroom because it was right over a structural beam and he wasn't sure if the main part of the floor would take the weight.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Posts
    184
    Country: Great Britain

    Default Bullion

    Thanks for the info Chubby. Pics below of my 'base model' Bullion



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  10. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Aberdeenshire
    Posts
    697
    Country: Great Britain

    Default Tann Bankers & Bullion.

    Quote Originally Posted by Safeone View Post
    Saw a Tann Diamond in the flesh today, good Lord that is some safe !

    I own a Tann Bullion which appears to be identical to a Tann Bankers Mk 8 (cant do the Romen Numeral thingy) not sure if anyone on here knows the exact difference.

    The Bullion came with a Bankers Mk 9 which I have since sold.

    The internals on the Bullion seemed more substantial than the Mk 9 although the Mk 9 did have x-ray proof mechanisms allegedley.

    Safe insurance guru Mike Palmer informed me that the Bullion is rated the same as the Mk 8 Bankers so the difference is beyond me


    The only difference between the Bullion Mk.6 and the Bankers Mk.8 that is mentioned in the literature is that the Bankers claims to incorporate a Thermic Lance Deterrent. This was in the form of a smoke emitting chemical in
    plastic tubes placed within the reinforcement of the body and door. It was also used in their Monolithic Night Deposit safes and some Strong Room Doors.Click image for larger version. 

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    Unfortunately if the tubes were ruptured during the filling process the chemicals could react with the steel reinforcement and create a corrosive liquid which in turn caused the safe bodies and doors to swell, usually around the spindle or keyways areas, thereby causing lockouts. Some in Australia unfortunately.


    The Bullion Mk.6 started production in 1976 with the first number 84093, and the Bankers Mk.8 in the same year with number 83987. I know of no reference to X-Ray protection other than in optional Keyless Combination Locks.

    Both Bullion and Bankers at that time were offered in the model 60/5142 Twin Compartment with an approximate
    weight between 3.5 and 4 tons. The central partition was 4.5 inches thick of the same barrier material as the body.
    I remember one such safe causing the pavement to subside outside a Bank of Scotland Branch in Largs many many years ago while being transferred on to a low loader.

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