Who produced the largest safe plaque?

[Brian Morland]

The one on the left is finished, the other still being mounted - but you get the idea...

[Warren63]

The one on the left is finished, the other still being mounted - but you get the idea...

outstanding (carpentry included) how far north do your exhibitions reach?

[Tom Gordon]

There is always a problem if you cant see the safe which they came off - Chatwood refurbished locks...indeed they took 5 or however many tonne safes back to the factory to do full-on refurbs of the entire safes.
You can get switched locks or new locks and new escutcheons, so you can get an 1890 safe with a 1930's nameplate and locks on, because after 40 years they could need it sometimes! They were still making old style locks to replace worn out ones too, where an update wasnt really required.
Both of those 5 spindles and the 12 lever lock all seem to be 1906-1916, while the fan lock was made in the Spring of 1875. They were top of the range locks although would have been a bit old fashioned at that time on a new safe. The new locks which they could have fitted were cheaper and smaller - which wasnt for sure what the customer wanted, in Chatwood's market sector, but they they may have been just replacing existing locks like with like on an older safe.

[Huw Eastwood]

There is always a problem if you cant see the safe which they came off - Chatwood refurbished locks...indeed they took 5 or however many tonne safes back to the factory to do full-on refurbs of the entire safes.
You can get switched locks or new locks and new escutcheons, so you can get an 1890 safe with a 1930's nameplate and locks on, because after 40 years they could need it sometimes! They were still making old style locks to replace worn out ones too, where an update wasnt really required.
Both of those 5 spindles and the 12 lever lock all seem to be 1906-1916, while the fan lock was made in the Spring of 1875. They were top of the range locks although would have been a bit old fashioned at that time on a new safe. The new locks which they could have fitted were cheaper and smaller - which wasnt for sure what the customer wanted, in Chatwood's market sector, but they they may have been just replacing existing locks like with like on an older safe.

What an interesting and informative reply Tom.
Always impressive when a company continues to offer that level of back-up all those decades later (especially full refurbs even taking massive safes back to the factory), but the point that really amazed me was where you said they still made the older style stuff for situations where updates weren't needed- that's British pride in industry and engineering at its best :-)

The last company I can recall that 'honoured' their products to that degree was probably Parker pens, but from memory even their services finally succumbed to the "bin it and buy a new one" concept back in the 1990's.

[Warren63]

I've bought three parkers recently Huw, French, Indian and Chinese! Not one were of the old quality. I'm also pretty impressed with Tom's reply. I didn't have the foggiest idea a company would go to all that trouble to keep something going purely for customer satisfaction and company reputation. I'm off to polish all my Chatwood plaques. Thanks Tom.

[Tom Gordon]

What an interesting and informative reply Tom.
Always impressive when a company continues to offer that level of back-up all those decades later (especially full refurbs even taking massive safes back to the factory), but the point that really amazed me was where you said they still made the older style stuff for situations where updates weren't needed- that's British pride in industry and engineering at its best :-)

The last company I can recall that 'honoured' their products to that degree was probably Parker pens, but from memory even their services finally succumbed to the "bin it and buy a new one" concept back in the 1990's.

You have to remember that until quite late in their history they made a significant proportion of their safes and other items to order. Whatever you wanted, the answer was yes, if you could afford it, whether it was a one off or not and for a long time their customers were mainly jewellers, governments, railways and banks.

[Chubby]

I once saw a plaque with a spelling mistake on it. I wish I had picked it up.

Any examples guys? I think it was a Ratner.

The sheer weight of some of their plaques made me wonder if they cast their own.

[Tom Gordon]

I once saw a plaque with a spelling mistake on it. I wish I had picked it up.

Any examples guys? I think it was a Ratner.

The sheer weight of some of their plaques made me wonder if they cast their own.

Any plaque Which does NOT say "Chatwood" is a mistake.😺
chatwood had different manufacturers do their casting, The letters cast into the back indicate who it was.

[Huw Eastwood]

Any plaque Which does NOT say "Chatwood" is a mistake.😺

Tom, in that case here's a nice crisp tenner for all the ones in your collection that say Chatwood's plural with an 's...

RE the casting of the makers plates and escutcheons, it wouldn't surprise me if the majority of manufacturers subbed the casting work out to foundries capable of high volume work tbh.