“Form ever follows function,” said American architect Louis Sullivan, who believed that the shape of an object should be determined by its intended purpose. Sullivan’s statement inspired a generation of modernist designers to decry decoration, and spurred fellow architect Adolf Loos to pen Ornament and Crime, his 1908 essay that damned embellishment as both degenerate and immoral.
Loos, then, would probably have applauded traditional approaches to safe design. There are few more utilitarian objects than your average safe deposit box, an unrepentantly inelegant object. “Sleek”, “stylish” and “desirable” are all adjectives that bounce off its steel hide with the same graceless efficiency with which it resists the lock picks of hapless burglars.
Traditional safes have never had to look good, because they were built to be concealed. “Most safes bought for the home are hidden away or built in to the wall or floor,” says Leon Haigh, key account manager at Phoenix Safe Company. He says that they’re made to stop theft or protect paper records and data in the event of fire. But are aesthetic considerations part of their design? “Not really,” he says.
The likes of Phoenix and Banham are leaders when it comes to security equipment that will stop your backup files warping in a fire and theyíll certainly protect against theft. But a new type of safe is emerging from beneath the floorboards and behind concealed wall units to step into the spotlight ñ and some of these modern masterpieces are more covetable than anything you would ever put into them.
Locking good
“Traditionally a safe has always been hidden away but now it’s a status symbol,” says Ben Lewis of Burton Safes. “Having a safe sends out the signal that you own something valuable enough to keep inside it.” Burton Safes is about to launch a new luxury line following a rise in interest for attractive and customisable security options. Mr Lewis says: “Many modern buildings have nowhere to hide safes or nothing to fix them to, so sometimes having something in the living room is the only option. And if itís out in the open it becomes a functional piece of furniture.”
There are two undisputed heavyweights in the luxury safe arena: Stockinger and Dittling, German firms that have fused security with style and attracted top designers to the once unglamorous world of safe manufacture.
Dominik Von Ribbentrop, Chief Executive of Stockinger, says: “Safety comes first, and thatís what we specialise in, but weíre trying to reintroduce quality safes to the world. We want to build the best technology in the market and then add emotion, beauty and style. Cars were first designed solely for purposes of transport. The watch was initially used to give you the time but then developed into a piece of art. Our safes have an average of 360 complex parts, and we have the similar idea of building a beautiful object.”
Interior designers Candy & Candy picked Stockinger safes to gleam beneath the chandeliers at One Hyde Park, their multi-million pound residential development at Londonís Mandarin Oriental hotel. The limited edition Stockinger for Bentley range of safes, produced with the luxury car manufacturer, come with leather lining, burr walnut panels and a brushed aluminium finish that makes them look as though theyíve been carved from the interior of a Continental GT.
Not to be outdone, Dittling enlisted the talents of design titan Karl Lagerfeld who, in March, sculpted the Narcissus safe for the family-run firm. This sleek, six-foot tall unit, resplendent in its high-gloss chrome-plated aluminium, was limited to an edition of 30. It features technology that recognises its owner, allowing it to open at the wave of a hand.
The value of protection
Big name collaborations aside, both Stockinger and Dittling specialise in customisable options that, crucially, are both easy to use and provide high security homes for collections of luxury watches, jewellery or plain old cash. A Stockinger safe will set you back at least €37,000, with the average model going from €60,000 to €80,000 and special editions pushing €145,000.
Mr Von Ribbentrop says: “Our customers are private collectors of jewellery and watches and usually have around €10m in the bank. They like designed objects, Patek Phillipe watches, Porsches or Bentleys. They have beautiful houses or apartments. They do not want the grey safe hidden in a cellar thatís hard to operate.”
For Mr Von Ribbentrop, everything always comes down to security and even having a conspicuous ruby red unit in the centre of the room can, he says, help secure other objects.
“People used to have the strategy of hiding a safe somewhere but weíre building safes that are invincible and can be put on display. If someone breaks in they can see the safe, and this could deter them from ruining the rest of the apartment by searching for it.”
Past glories
Robert Ayres, owner of ACE Safe Co Ltd, is a security specialist with decades of experience. “Safes are desirable because they protect valuable and sentimental objects, but theyíve become a piece of furniture in their own right.” he says.
ACE sells a collection of reconditioned antique safes that wouldnít look out of place next to an 18th-century Venetian bureau bookcase. The safes can be customised with humidors for cigars or carousels on which to store collections of single malts. That they contain authentic inscriptions announcing their manufacture at 19th-century seaports, cast-iron imperial crests or working models of the Orient Express just provides a talking point that will keep the conversation flowing along with the whisky. “You can take out your 20-year-old malt and talk about how the safe was made in Vienna in 1892,” Mr Ayres says.
Dittling, which has been handcrafting safes since 1919, also offers an antique range. Its “Legends” series comprises one-off safes that have been restored and are then customised in consultation with the owner. The appeal of antique units, according to Mr Ayres, is that theyíre one-of-a-kind. “People want a different, special or original safe,” he says.
Bespoke boxes
Whether you’re interested in a restored Napoleonic safe or a modern-day designer unit, customisation will make your safe your own. Almost every aspect of the safe can be modified, from the direction in which the door opens to coating its exterior in chrome or leopard print.
The customisation process usually involves working with the safe designer to produce a unit that will fit your needs, adding cabinets, shelves or equipment such as watch winders. The latter are frequently used for horology collections and will keep your self-winding timepiece ticking while its in storage. Theyíll keep your watch running and in good condition, and you won’t have to set your De Buthene the next time you slip it on.
Dittling has its own “Touch and Move” system that allows owners to programme each winder individually, and stores data about each watch, and Stockinger says it’s constantly updating its own watch technology. Given that a Richard Mille timepiece could easily set you back £250,000, itís little wonder that safes and winders are essential investments for serious watch collectors.
If youíre using the safe to display watches – or jewellery or stamps or single malts – you’ll want an interior that will show off its treasures when opened. You can line it with silk or mahogany, add some glass shelves and light it in myriad hues. Compartments and drawers, meanwhile, will ensure the safe can comfortably accommodate your items. Mr Von Ribbentrop says: “We’ll take a look at your jewellery or anything else you plan to store and make suggestions on compartments. Weíll fit the inside of your safe to the content, not the other way round.”
When it comes to the exterior, it seems that only imagination – and taste – limit what you can do. Mr Lewis says that Burton Safes can match the colour of their units to the dÈcor of your home. “We can do pretty much any safe in any sort of colour,” he says. “What we’re looking at launching is a range of luxury safes which are finished with different materials so you can have a highly polished car-type paint finish in a variety of colours, a high gloss metallic finish or have it clad in granite, leather or glass.”
Mr Von Ribbentrop, too, is used to accommodating unusual requests. “One customer wanted a fully chrome safe like a Jeff Koons object, others want leather or wood,” he says. “We even had a customer who wanted a camouflaged safe.” Stockinger will also paint your safe to match specific Pantone colours, though asking for Neutral Grey (Pantone 17-4402) might defeat the point somewhat.
Luxury standards
Ultimately, any safe must protect your objects. To do that it needs to be able to withstand efforts to break into it. The lock, therefore, is crucial. There’s an undeniable charm about the old rotating combination lock, partly thanks to decades of spy and safe-cracker movies, but the future is decidedly digital.
Stockinger uses its proprietary Stocktronics system that conceals the electronic keypad in the top of the safe. This is as much about making the safe easy to use as impressing your friends when the sleek panel sweeps out at the touch of the button. “The keypad’s at the top so you donít need to bend down,” Mr Von Ribbentrop explains.
Retina scanners and facial recognition may be a few years off from becoming standard features, but Mr Lewis says that biometric fingerprint scanners are becoming popular, particularly among gadget hounds. He says: “They started off on low-security safes but are now on high-security devices. Prices arenít cheap but theyíre not prohibitive. Some are wary of the technology but the great advantage of the fingerprint scanner is you canít lose the key or forget the code.”
All safes will be put through their paces to ensure they meet a European Union standard with the reassuringly prosaic name of EN 1143. Mr Lewis says: “Put simply, safes are sent to a test house which checks it against this standard and grades it.”
The higher the grade, the sturdier the safe, and the more cover youíll get from insurers for your items. Mr Von Ribbentrop says: “There are a few companies that produce nice metal boxes with a pretty design but a safe is only a safe once it’s been tested and approved.”
When you’re buying a biometrically controlled unit for the keys to your Bugatti or a gleaming chrome walk-in model in which you could house a safe collection, make sure it meets the specifications. Otherwise all youíve bought is a pretty box.
Three safes (you’ll want to steal)
The Narcissus: Made by Döttling, designed by Karl Lagerfeld, and billed as the world’s most expensive home safe, the Narcissus was released in March 2010 to gasps of both admiration and incredulity. Only 30 were made, and Mr Lagerfeld owns one of them. In exchange for €250,000 you’ll get a unit that resembles a six-foot chrome mirror within which is housed a host of customisable cabinets for your valuables. Its revolutionary “owner recognition technology” means that to open it you simply wave your hand before your own reflection. Given the great designer’s distinctive look, enterprising cat burglars may want to invest in silvery ponytails and dark sunglasses.
The Viennese Games
& Entertainment Safe: Taking pride of place in ACE Safe’s collection of one-off antique models, the Viennese Games & Entertainment Safe was built by A Frankel Fabrik of Vienna during the 19th-century. “It has antique and original games sourced from all over the world, a chess set, an old Monopoly set and a vintage train set,” Mr Ayres says. The train set is a model of the Orient Express, further emphasising its luxury credentials, and it will set you back a playful £49,000.
Stockinger for Bentley: Stockinger’s safes for Bentley come in two models: the €115,000 Continental and the €125,000 Arnage, both limited to a run of 200 and accented with bird’s eye maple, burr walnut or dark stained burr walnut. They can be painted in any of Bentley’s standard colours and will have petrolheads purring like a V8 engine.
Stockinger: www.stockinger.com; +49 (0) 89 7590 5828
Döttling: www.doettling.com; +49 (0) 7031 437456-0
ACE Safe Company: www.acesafes.co.uk; 0800 373 943
Burton Safes: www.burtonsafes.co.uk; 01484 663388