Simply Luxury
1980
Brown Safe
Built to a higher standard, in California since 1980
Brown Safe · Vista, California
Vista, California · Since 1980 · Made in America

Brown SafeBuilt to a higher standard

A family house that builds safes and vaults the old way, from thick plate steel, ballistic armour and hand finished hardwoods, for collectors, families and the embassies of the world.

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The Story

An engineer’s
promise.

Frederick Brown grew up in a family of engineers. His father, James A. Brown, worked in the laboratories of Eli Lilly, and his work drew the young Frederick to mechanical design. After serving in the Army from 1971 to 1973 with the 101st Airborne, and earning two Purple Hearts, he took a degree in engineering at San Diego State University in 1976 and worked as an associate engineer at Sony.

In 1980 he founded Brown Safe Manufacturing, at first as a one man operation in his own home. It grew into a manufacturing house in Vista, California, still owned and run by the Brown family, that builds everything it sells in America.

“Build it for your children’s children, and teach them the same.”James A. Brown, as his son Frederick remembers him

The house in numbers

Made to
outlast us all.

0
Founded by Frederick Brown
0
Year warranty on every safe, inside and out
0
Interchangeable drawer layouts in a Gem
0
Outside heat a Man Safe is built to resist, per the house
USA
Every safe made in America
The Armour

Layer upon
layer.

“We use thick plate steel, and lots of it,” says the house. Not formed sheet metal, but solid steel and armour, built in layers.

  1. Ballistic armour plateMilitary grade ballistic armour in the door and body of the Elite and Chronos models.
  2. Solid steelEven the standard Man Safe begins with a half inch solid steel door and a quarter inch solid steel body.
  3. Hard plateChip carbide and tungsten carbide plates guard the lock against the drill.
  4. Fire compositeWalls encased in two and a half inches of high density composite, the door in two.
  5. RelockersActive and passive relockers, and a glass plate relocker, that lock the door for good if it is attacked.
  6. Titanium and chrome boltsHardened chrome or solid titanium locking bolts, with anti drive protection and an interlocking anti pry door.
Fire

Outside, a furnace.
Inside, calm.

The house rates its Man Safe to keep its contents below the flash point of paper for an hour and a half, in a fire of up to 1,700°F.

0
The fire outside
0
Kept below, inside
1.5
Hours of protection
Interiors

A jewellery chest
inside a fortress.

Behind the steel, the Gem Series hides a hand crafted hardwood chest, lit from within, lined in velvet or Ultrasuede, and arranged exactly as its owner wishes.

Lacquer

Antique WhiteSierra TanRegal RedWindsor BlueEspresso BrownCoach Black

Hardwoods

BubingaBirdseye mapleMapleWengeOr the client’s own

Linings

VelvetUltrasuede

Hardware

BrassBrushed stainlessOil rubbed bronze

Within

Automatic LED lightNecklace rackMirrorOrbita watch winders
The Collections

For every
treasure.

i

Gem Series

The house’s celebrated jewellery safe: a hardwood chest of drawers within armour, from the Mini Gem to the Gem 6018.

ii

Man Safe

For watches and everyday valuables, with watch panels and Orbita winders, in six standard sizes.

iii

Bespoke Leather

Safes dressed in leather, in five sizes, made to the client’s taste.

iv

Chronos

The ultimate watch safe, with an automatic watch carousel, fingerprint entry and titanium boltwork.

v

Estate Series

Multipurpose safes for the treasures of a whole household.

vi

Estate Vault Doors

Military grade doors that turn a room into a vault, in three stock protection levels.

vii

Monument

The round vault door, a piece of architecture in its own right.

viii

HD and Government

Heavy duty safes, and the safes built for embassies and government agencies.

The Chronos

Time,
kept moving.

A watch safe in which an automatic carousel keeps a collection wound, behind armour and titanium.

Entry

Four ways
in.

i

The dial

A mechanical combination dial, with an optional key lockout. On some doors it stays as a backup way in.

ii

The keypad

An industrial grade La Gard electronic lock.

iii

The fingerprint

Biometric entry, with a matching handle and casing.

iv

The concealed

A high security lock in a billet aluminium housing, with a drop down keypad, an OLED display and backlit keys.

Trusted by

Where the stakes
are highest.

United States embassiesMilitary basesNaval shipsGovernment agenciesForeign embassiesCollectors and families

A client’s home was lost to a wildfire. The Brown Safe inside it came through unharmed, and the house replaced it anyway.As told by the house to LEADERS magazine

The Family

Still a
family house.

Privately owned since the first day, and run by the founder and the next generation.

Founder

Frederick Brown

Engineer, veteran and founder. His expertise runs from metallurgy to military and diplomatic fortification, and he still oversees production.

Vice President

Lynel Brown Berryhill

The founder’s daughter. She built the house’s first website, launched its first luxury safe line and looks after its private and high profile clients.

Operations

Timothy Brown

Leads production, mechanical design and CNC machining, turning ideas into safes. Twice a class winner of the Baja 1000.

Research and Development

Shawn Berryhill

Once a design director in video games, he joined the house in 2006 to lead product design.

The Journey

From a home workshop
to embassies.

1976

The engineer

Frederick Brown graduates in engineering from San Diego State University.

1980

Brown Safe is founded

A one man operation in the founder’s own home in California.

1990s

Holding the line

As cheap imports drive many American safe makers out of business, the family keeps building in America, carried by military work and a loyal team.

Early 2000s

Online, and into luxury

The house goes online and launches its first luxury safes, for jewellery and watches.

Today

Vista, California

A manufacturing house of welders, woodworkers, leatherworkers and painters, with laser cutters and CNC machines, building for clients across the world.

As seen in
ForbesThe Wall Street JournalThe New York TimesPopular MechanicsaBlogtoWatchLEADERSSimply LuxuryForbesThe Wall Street JournalThe New York TimesPopular MechanicsaBlogtoWatchLEADERSSimply Luxury
From the house

The latest
from Brown Safe.

Brown Safe

Safeguard the
irreplaceable.

Vista, California

Visit Brown Safe @brownsafe

Facts on this page come from Brown Safe and from published interviews with LEADERS and aBlogtoWatch. Imagery and logos courtesy of Brown Safe.

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