Ultimate & One-off Freestanding Safes

[Chubby]

Certainly a beauty. I notice they specify that there are anchoring holes but I think those were not provided for the diamond.

[Ian D. Lewis]

Certainly a beauty. I notice they specify that there are anchoring holes but I think those were not provided for the diamond.

It will probably depend on how old the safe is Chubby. Back in the 70's if a safe was fixed to the floor it was classified as a build modification and therefore exempt from VAT. A loophole soon closed no doubt.

[WinterG]

I'm new to this forum.
I enclose a picture a Fichet safe type 242 Ter model 186 block shape. Its weight is 4850 Kg (10692 livres).
It was for sale on a website (Le Bon Coin).
Sorry for spelling, I use a translator.
Winter

[Huw Eastwood]

Hello Winter, thanks so much for posting this- what an amazing safe!
Its easy to see why those 242s were as heavy as they were- incredibly thick door and body.
So at last we have a type 242 'for real' and still being used, I wonder if a Le Super-Fichet will eventually show up?

Thanks again and there was no problems will your spelling or translation- all spot on!

[Huw Eastwood]

I forgot to add this Ad

[WinterG]

I have never seen Super Fichet safe. I have a catalog of the 20s with this print.
Winter

[Huw Eastwood]

Thanks again Winter, that's a great picture of Le Super-Fichet.

[Doug MacQueen]

Sorry Max, the only really thick heavy stuff I have seen goes back to the laminated plate era of the late 1800's-early 1900's. It did seem a bit strange when I started in the trade that Mosler/Diebold were importing safes for the jewelers market. Then again, they both had the banking industry heavily covered with regional sales and service offices in many larger U.S. cities. Here in the states, we see jewelers safes from all over the world, Kaso from Finland all the way to Lord from Australia. SLS had an office in Philadelphia, which I suppose is how that Gem safe ended up here. And Tom on that H-H-M safe, it is possible the outer door had insulation, but outwardly it was a typical solid steel laminated door. Unfortunately I cannot find the pictures I took of it.

[WinterG]

In Europe most safes are classified from I to VI. But there are also classes VII and VIII.

Regards
Winter

[Huw Eastwood]

Winter, that's an interesting safe and from a European maker little seen or known here in the UK. I'm not overly convinced it is to grade VIII though, it appears from their site they missed a grade out completely from their range, and I'm wondering if the extra 'I' was added on this model by mistake?
To be honest I am unaware of any other free standing safe yet to meet grade VIII, as the Eurovault Atlas launched by Burtons a couple of years back was I thought still the first and only safe to grade VII. Perhaps this is another to add to the VII grade?
I'm quite possibly wrong, but I'll be surprised if it is actually a genuine grade VIII safe, all seems a bit odd and I would also expect noticeable increases in wall thicknesses on a free standing safe jumping yet another grade up to VIII, but that's just my opinion of course.

The EN1143-1 European grades do of course go up to XIII, but because most of the safe manufacturers only build free standing safes generally upto grades VI or VII, it's normally only strong rooms and doors found above these grades.

Interestingly, I mentioned before that only German maker Stacke produce a vault door to the highest grade 13. Surprising that the Gunnebo group hadn't jumped in on that one...

As far as I know though, there is no restriction or definition limiting free standing safes from the higher grades, it's down to whether a safe could be produced to meet them, and the probable hornets nest it could stir with the many governing European bodies and councils that make the assessments and decisions behind the assessments, testing and procedures.
If a manufacturer did actually design, build, and put to test a safe to grade 13, it would certainly make things a bit more lively for them, that's for sure.
It would probably need to be a cube sized about 3 metres each way, weighing about 100 tons and with an internal volume big enough to house and protect a Mars bar. That's actually the sort of safe I dream of though...