A Safe Bet

Have a watch collection or maybe just a few treasured timepieces? Craftsmen can fit your safe with automatic watch winders to keep your collection running smoothly and always with the correct time.

Other thoughtful touches include interior LED lighting, which does not generate heat, and a silent alarm entry code -- if you're being forced to open your safe, just enter an alternate code in the keypad. The safe will open like normal, but will alert the police to the larceny in progress.

As Von Ribbentrop notes, "Once someone has a bit of money they don't want a standardized product. They want something personal and ... even unique."

And Von Ribbentrop makes it clear that Stockinger is completely focused on the customer. The company strives to make a singular piece and to accommodate individual needs, from unusual color and material requests to diminutive jewelry compartments.

He tells a story about a German woman with a jewelry collection worth well over 10 million euros. At her home, Stockinger employees looked on while she unceremoniously dumped her fortune on her bed. Although a bit daunted, the employees proceeded to painstakingly measure each piece in order to design an interior that would fit her collection exactly.

When addressed with the absurdity of keeping such valuables casually piled away in a bedroom, Von Ribbentrop declares that in fact this is very common with Stockinger's clientele. "Half of their jewelry is hidden away in a bank and they never see it, the other half is hidden among their clothes. [So] we try to create pieces that incorporate themselves into a daily living area like your dressing room and work area. It's beautiful, easy to handle and gives you joy."

And what is the most unusual custom request the company has fulfilled?

Von Ribbentrop recalls a customer who requested his safe be lacquered with the same color as his wife's favorite pink nail polish. Another requested a Swarovski crystal lacquer which Stockinger had to develop in partnership with the famed crystal maker. "I can imagine stachelrochen (stingray) leather coming soon," he remarks wryly.

The Luxe Life

In addition to customizing the exteriors and interiors of Stockinger's five standard safe sizes, the company can construct a safe to a buyer's size specifications, all the way up to an armored vault within a home.

	The Panther

Other special projects include partnering with Bugatti for a safe adorned with the car maker's distinctive logo and design style. Partnerships with other well-known luxury brands are currently in the works.

Still, even with all these customized features, I ask Von Ribbentrop why customers come to Stockinger when they could buy a standard armored safe that also meets European bank standards for considerably less. He answers, "It's 40/60: 40% security and 60% luxury. It's like a very nice Swiss watch. It only gives you the time and date, and of course you can have one for a very small price. But why, when you can go for the ultimate luxury edition?"

With not only security covered but style as well, it's safe to say Stockinger is a winner.

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