As jeweler Baya Gatter mentions in her Disguised Jewelry Safe article, the best place to keep your most valuable personal pieces of jewelry is not in a jewelry box on your dresser – because that’s the first place a thief will look.
Instead, you should consider hiding your small valuables in unlikely-looking containers.
In publishing Baya’s article, I did some research on this topic and become kind of fascinated with diversion safes and the whole realm of possibilities for making your own.
If you haven’t heard of them before, a diversion safe is a concealment device made from an everyday object (such as a soda can, paint container, book, candle, etc.).
The more lowly and ordinary-looking the “safe” is, the less likely it is to attract any attention from a thief or other dishonest person.
You can easily make your own diversion safes from a variety of household items.
In fact, these little concealment devices might be fun to make for some of the people on your gift list.
(Of course, you could put a pair of earrings or other handmade jewelry in the safe before giving it, to make it an even better gift!)
So here are some good examples of diversion safes that are made for sale, and a collection of video tutorials for making your own diversion safes from a variety of objects.
And when you’ve finished making them, be sure to check out Baya’s other articles on ways to safeguard your personal jewelry collection.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I find this article quite interesting. My mother used to hide her most valuable rings under a big piece of furniture. But that was only when my parents left a trip.
The only down side is that when things are kept in inconspicuous places like a soda can in the pantry for example, you run the risk of throwing it away at some point. You may think that, “oh I won’t forget my valuables are there” but trust me, at some point you will. After mt grandmother died, we were throwing things away out of her pantry, and by some miracle i dropped a bag of flower and it bust open. In the flower pile was 2 diamond cocktail ring appraised at $3000 each. WE promptly scattered everything out on the floor and went through it all finding some more things.
The best way to be safe is an actual safe that is bolted to the floor, or a concealed wall safe. You have to make a little investment if you want to guarantee the safety of valuable or sentimental jewelry.
To John..
Bad place, never hide anything under furniture or tables, especially closets, or desks, cabinets.
My home was broken into when we got back every chair, and table in the house had been flipped, every drawer pulled, every space of the closet emptied.
It wasn’t about damaging anything (beyond the window I don’t remember any physical damage) it was about finding things of value, jewelry, money, apparently it’s a very common place.