This story appears in the January 2001 issue of JCK Magazine.
"Safes are the jeweler's last bastion of defense against burglary and theft," says security expert
David Sexton, vice president of special accounts for Jewelers Mutual Insurance. "That's why we
and other insurers look so critically at the physical protection they provide."
How safe is your high-security safe? Does it use burglary-resistant composite materials and
intricate locking and relocking devices? Can it meet the weight limits of high-rise installations and
today's elevators? Does it use digital locks to prevent unauthorized entry? Most important, has it
been certified to resist physical attack for a specific period of time?
UL label. Simply put, a burglary-resistant safe is a container designed to protect valuables from
break-in. It does this with steel, intricate locks (both mechanical and digital), relocking devices, and
composite "buffer" or "barrier" materials (such as metal alloys) in the body and door of the safe
that can resist various tools and sometimes even explosives.
Safes that are certified as burglary-resistant bear the metal label of Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
(UL), a 105-year-old independent, not-for-profit product safety certification organization. They're
also listed in the UL's Burglary Protection Equipment Directory (see sidebar). Because the UL is
universally respected for its objectivity, insurance underwriters nationwide rely on its tests,
standards, and ratings when writing policies for safes.
The UL's rigorous testing is conducted by burglary experts using a variety of devices, including
diamond grinding wheels, high-speed drills with pressure-applying devices, carbide-tip drills, and
hand tools such as hammers and chisels. The tests are conducted under ideal laboratory
conditions, unlike those a real burglar usually encounters. Security experts say it could take a
typical burglar as much as three or four times longer to crack a UL-tested safe. Thus, the UL
rating represents the minimum protection a safe is certified to provide.
Underwriters Laboratories uses 10 classifications or ratings for burglary-resistant safes. They are,
in increasing order of protection: TL-15; Deposit Safe; TL-30; TRTL-30; TL-15X6; TL-30X6;
TRTL-15X6; TRTL-30 X6; TRTL-60X6; TXTL-60X6. Each letter and number of the rating code
represents a different aspect of security that the safe provides.
Burglar's tools. TL means a safe is tool-resistant, TR means it's torch-resistant, TRTL indicates
that it's tool- and torch-resistant, and TXTL stands for torch-, tool-, and explosives-resistant.
Extent of resistance. The numbers 15, 30, and 60 represent the number of minutes a safe will
withstand a series of attacks. The longer a safe can resist a break-in, the more likely it is that
burglars will flee and that police or security guards will arrive before any jewelry is stolen.
Sides of a safe. X6 means a safe provides equal protection on all six sides (including top and
bottom). When X6 isn't listed, it means the safe provides protection only on its front face and door.
Thus, a TRTL-30X6 UL rating means a safe is certified to resist entry from torch and tools on all
six sides for a half-hour. A TL-15 rating means a safe can resist physical attack from tools to its
front face or door for 15 minutes.
Routine reviews. A UL label is not a permanent stamp of approval. Under a program begun in the
1990s, the UL routinely reviews all UL-listed security products every seven years. This follow-up is
intended to assure the public (and the UL) that consumers are buying a unit exactly like the one
that originally passed the UL test and that manufacturers are keeping pace with criminals.
"The tools available to the bad guys are getting better all the time, and the bad guys are getting
smarter, too," says Steve Schmit, UL associate managing engineer, who's in charge of the
safe-testing program at the UL facility in Northbrook, Ill. "So, products that have passed our tests
in the past have to be 're-proofed.'"
Moreover, during the seven-year period between reviews, a safe manufacturer's certification can
be suspended or revoked if investigation reveals that a product no longer meets UL requirements.
In July 2000, for example, the UL issued a public notice to the insurance and jewelry trade
industries that two commercial TRTL-15X6 safes "identified by their name plates as being
manufactured by Soltam Limited of Haifa, Israel, may not provide the anticipated level of protection
against a burglary attack." UL suspended Soltam Ltd.'s use of its label on those safes.
Safe buying. Sexton has advice for jewelers in the market for high-security burglary-resistant
safes. "First, contact your insurance company to find out which safes your insurance carrier will
accept for any given level of inventory," he says. Insurance firms that specialize in Jewelers Block
insurance coverage also have information on safe vendors that work principally with the jewelry
industry. Many deal in used safes, too, and offer national distribution of both new and used
products.
"Keep in mind the growth potential of your business," says Sexton. "Don't purchase a safe which
only provides adequate protection for today's inventory. Consider one that can protect the value
of tomorrow's inventory, as well. A jeweler may currently only need a safe to store $500,000 in
inventory, but if he plans to grow to $1 million in inventory in the near future, he may want to buy a
TRTL-30X6 now instead of a TRTL 15X6. [Doing so] can also save the jeweler the cost of
redesigning the premises later to accommodate the higher-security safe."
When comparing costs, remember that the UL rating affects prices: Expect those with the higher
UL rating to cost more. For example, the high-security safes produced by John Tann Co., one of
the oldest and most respected names in the safe business, can cost from $2,000 to $10,000 for
TL-15 and TL-30 safes and $30,000 for TRTL-30X6 safes.
Stronger barriers. Safe technology has undergone improvements in some critical areas. For
example, the amount of "barrier" material-the "filling" between outside and inside walls-has been
increased and the science of construction materials continues to advance, says Schmit. "The
concrete mixes a manufacturer uses today [in barrier construction] have a lot more strength than
10 years ago, and there are also more composites in barriers," he notes. "People are casting
molten metal and concrete together, and there is more use in barrier material of rods made of
space-age ceramics. If a crook with a jackhammer is able to chip away at the concrete inside, he
suddenly runs into these tough ceramics."
"That's an important factor when shipping safes," he notes, "[especially when] moving them in and
out of high-rise locations, into elevators with weight load limits, or to locations with weight
restrictions. It also affects the freight costs to ship that safe. The difference in cost of shipping a
safe weighing 5,000 pounds and one weighing 3,500 can be significant."
High-security safes are being designed to fit into narrower spaces or corners, he says, and to
accommodate more jewelry, gems, and watches.
Relockers, which automatically close down a safe in case of attempted entry. Most TL-30s have
just one glass plate; some have none. The combination and key locks are mounted on top of the
glass. Any attempted penetration of either lock triggers the multiple relockers, barring entry by
anyone.
Smart locks. Meanwhile, says UL's Schmit, there is growing demand for electronic digital locks
($300 to $1,000), which use computer chip-based packages behind safes' dials instead of
traditional mechanical levers and bars. Depending on the commercial user's needs, these locks
perform a variety of functions besides keeping the safe closed.