Posted by Atame on February 03, 2001 at 09:15:16:
Hello Handcuff-Collectors,
as we all know it's difficult to determine how old a Hiatt Darby Handcuff is, because they were built quite unchanged for 200 years.
I noticed three different styles of keys so far. I think K1 (look at the picture) is a quite knew one - it's from my type 115 which is not made of cheap pot metal though. K3 which is from C3 looks older than K2 from C1, but C1 looks older than C3 (maybe C1 is simply in worse shape).
C1, C2 and C3 are three type 104 models I own. All have different swivels. At C1 and C2 the loop, where the swivel-link is connected to the bow, is part of the bow itself. At C3 this loop is a separate part which is welded to the bow.
Any ideas how old the different models and key could be?
Regards,
Atame