Posted by Joseph Fox on January 24, 2001 at 00:02:31:
In Reply to: Smith & Wesson M-90 - is there one version more than shown in the gallery? posted by Atame on January 23, 2001 at 14:09:45:
Atame: In 1952, S&W introduced and marketed under their own name the model #90. Through the years, many variations/finishes were produced. Not shown in the Gallery are: #91-Polished Nickel; #936-Polished Stainless Steel; #938-Regular Stainless Steel. The older/rarer #90s are easily identified by noticing the location of the "indent"...if its centered above the keyhole-its a later model. If the "indent" is way off-center from the keyhole...than it's an older model. The older models also have 19 teeth on the bow (the later ones have 20). The older ones also have slightly smaller chain links...resulting in those cuffs being shorter, when held side-by-side to newer models. My #938 model does have a letter "S" on each of its bows (meaning "stainless"?). The easiest thing I suppose is to look at the serial #s on your cuffs to determine which one is older. I'd say the stainless models are rarer than the nickel models. Its difficult without seeing a photo of your cuffs, but I hope some of this information helps.