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7 Tips On How to Keep Jewelry Safe at Home

by David Weliver

If you are somebody who enjoys buying high quality jewelry, then keeping it safe is probably one of your biggest priorities. After all, crime is very real, and break and enters as well as burglaries occur every single day.

In fact, in the USA, the rate of home burglaries has increased drastically over the last few years. For example, in the USA, a home break-in generally occurs around every 26 seconds, for a whopping 2.5 million home burglaries every single year.

To put that in different terms, that is well over 3300 burglaries every single day, with over 50% of homes often suffering from repeat burglary attempts within the same month.

So, if you have thousands and thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry in your home, keeping it safe from the hands of thieves should be one of your top priorities. With that being said, you might not know how to keep jewelry safe at home.

However, there are many good ways to help secure your jewelry inside of your home, as well as to secure your home in general. Let’s take a closer look at some of the best ways of how to keep your jewelry safe at home.

How to Keep Jewelry Safe at Home

Right now, we are going to go over the biggest tips that you need to follow in order to keep your jewelry safe at home. We’re going to cover everything from getting a full-fledged home security system, what something like a dog can do for the security of your home, as well as some great tips for storing, documenting, and hiding your most valuable jewelry.

1. Get a Home Security System

One of the best things that you can do to keep jewelry safe at home is to invest in a good home security system. As far as deterring burglaries and break-ins go, a home security system is the number one option at your disposal.

What is interesting to note is that roughly 60% of burglars will be deterred from entering a home if they see that there is a home security system in place.

Therefore, a pro tip here is to always have the signs and labels for your home security system clearly displayed in your yard and on your front door. This will ensure that any would-be burglars and thieves know that your home is being protected by a high-quality security system.

60% is a really big number, so if you can cut the chances of your home being broken into in half, or realistically more than in half, then investing in a good home security system is probably your best bet.

Of course, there are some decisions that you have to make, because there are video home security systems, audible alarms, motion sensor cameras and lights, door and window alarms, and so much more. Yes, the specific type of alarm or the various features that your alarm system comes with are important to consider.

However, it would seem that simply having an alarm system present, particularly one that is on display for people to see, is much more important than the actual components of the alarm.

If a would-be thief sees that you have an alarm, they probably aren’t going to stop to consider whether you have one type or another. The simple fact that you have a home security system is generally more than enough to scare most burglars away.

2. Consider Getting a Dog

Another simple recommendation that can help keep your jewelry safe in your home, or in other words to help secure your home, is if you get a dog, particularly a large dog.

There are plenty of studies out there that show that thieves and burglars will generally be deterred from homes that have loud and barking dogs, especially if those dogs are large breeds.

Of all of the studies out there, it is very clear that the vast majority of burglars will avoid homes that have barking dogs, and the larger those dogs are, the more likely burglars are to avoid those homes altogether.

One thing that does need to be said, however, is that burglars won’t be as deterred from homes that have quiet dogs as from homes that have loud dogs. Yes, burglars are fearful of getting bitten or injured by dogs, which is why they are generally afraid of large dogs; however, they might not be quite as fearful of smaller dogs, especially if those smaller dogs are quiet.

Yes, size does matter, but so does volume. It is shown that burglars are especially deterred from homes when those dogs are extremely loud and will audibly bark when there are intruders.

Simply put, a home invader does not want to alert the entire neighborhood that they have just broken into your home, which is what a barking dog will certainly do.

How to Keep Jewelry Safe at Home

3. Use a Safe or Lock Box

Another good way to help keep your jewelry safe in your home is to get a lock box or a safe. Of course, here we are assuming that both the dog and the security system did not stop the burglars from getting into your home.

Therefore, the next line of defense is a secure safe or lock box that a burglar or thief cannot get into. With that being said, safes and lock boxes are of course not 100% secure, so there are a few different considerations that you do need to keep in mind.

First and foremost, the weight of the safe or lock box in question is going to make a difference. Generally speaking, burglars will only take what they can carry by hand. Therefore, if the safe is too large and heavy for a burglar to carry out of your home, chances are almost 100% that they will not try to take it.

Of course, there are burglars who may try anyway, in which case having a safe that is bolted down to the ground or to a wall is also a good choice. You should always get a safe or lock box that you can bolt to the ground or the wall, as this will add an extra layer of protection.

Even if a would-be burglar wanted to leave your home with your safe, if it’s securely attached to a wall or the floor, they just won’t be able to.

Assuming that the burglar is not able to walk out of your home with your safe, the other important aspect of the equation is that the safe itself is impermeable.

There are different grades of safes, such as ones that are rated to be impossible to break into with classic burglary tools for at least 10 or 15 minutes.

The more highly rated the safe in question is, the more time it will take a thief to break into it using normal tools. That said, the location of the safe is also important to consider, which brings us to our next point.

4. Choosing the Right Hiding Spots

Choosing the right location to hide your jewelry in is another important aspect of the equation. Now, if you choose not to use some kind of safe or lock box, then this is one of the most important points to consider.

The issue here is that this is somewhat of a double-edged sword. Some experts will recommend that you hide your jewelry in areas that criminals would never think to look, such as in the back of the freezer.

However, on the other hand, many criminals are quite smart, and they are wise to these tricks, so sometimes, the first place that criminals will check for your jewelry are the exact places that you would think that they would never check.

Whatever the case may be, the most important aspect is that the jewelry is kept out of view. If you aren’t using a lock box, some kind of secret panel, such as a hiding spot that a spy in a movie would use, is recommended. No, secret panels and compartments aren’t just for movie villains.

They are commonly used by people who have expensive jewelry. At the very least, just don’t leave your valuables and expensive jewelry in eyesight of your doors or windows. If a burglar comes up to a window and sees that you have a table full of expensive jewelry, chances are pretty big that they’ll try to go for it.

If you are using some kind of safe or lock box, keeping it hidden is also ideal, as it will add an extra layer of protection. With that being said, if you have an extremely high quality safe or lock box that is bolted down, it may not be necessary to hide it. If this is the case, you’re relying on the safe itself to do its job.

How to Keep Jewelry Safe at Home

5. Don’t Leave Technicians and Repairmen Alone

If you plan on keeping your jewelry safe, a good idea is to never leave repairmen, technicians, contractors, and other such strangers in your home by themselves. Sure, you might be tempted to leave them a key or just leave the door open as the plumber fixes your toilet, so you can go to work or go get some groceries, but this really isn’t a good idea.

Although the vast majority of tradesmen that will come into your home are generally reliable and trustworthy people, there are always bad eggs. It wouldn’t be the first time that contractors, repairman, or other such people have stolen valuables from a home. Therefore, simply not leaving these people alone in your home is recommended.

6. Always Keep a Documented Inventory

To help keep your jewelry safe within your home, keeping a documented inventory, along with professional appraisals, is always a good idea. This way, at the very least, if you do lose something or something goes missing, you know exactly what it is, where it should be, and how much money it is worth. Being organized and knowing exactly what pieces of jewelry you have is the first step here.

7. Jewelry Insurance Makes a Difference

If all else fails, you should always have jewelry insurance, especially if you have very expensive pieces that are hard to replace. The simple fact is that all the tips we are providing you above, while very useful, are not 100% foolproof.

There are cases where if a criminal wants to get into a house and steal your belongings bad enough, they will do so no matter the security measures that you have taken. Therefore, if the worst-case scenario were to arise, and your jewelry does get stolen, at the very least you have it insured.

Conclusion

If you follow the seven tips as listed above, keeping your jewelry safe in your home should be doable.

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