Three new old cuffs

Hi everbody,

recently I acquired three nice pieces for my collection and I hope that some of you might have some additional information for me.

The first one is a very small adjustable Darby, which I bought in Germany. It has 8 locking position, so I first thought that it might be a Clejuso. But it is smaller in size than my other Clejuso Darbies - one you can see in the pictures for comparison. And the overall shape looks also different to a Clejuso Darby.

The second is a Darby which I purchased from a Belgian seller. It is totally unmarked and I have again no idea about age and manufacturer.

The last one are nice Hiatt plug leg irons, which I got from GB. They are complete with plugs but on side is left and the other right threaded, so the key only matches on one side - luckily the key from my Hiatt Plug-8 perfectly matches the other side. I do not want to know how the seller managed to open both sides with the original key (and he did!).

Best regards and thank you in advance,
Guenter

Guenter,

I have a similar small adjustable darby (pictured next to a pair of Hiatt adjustables) which I have assumed to be Clejuso. They have a long chain with a typical Clejuso swivel. Like yours, my pair has smooth tapered lock cases without the normal stepped base. My pair also came from Germany. When I posted these images some time ago the general feeling was that they were early period Clejuso.







The cuffs from the Belgian seller are unknown to me but are a very nice item as are the Hiatt plug cuffs.

Regards,

Mark (RMP)

Hi everbody,

recently I acquired three nice pieces for my collection and I hope that some of you might have some additional information for me.

The first one is a very small adjustable Darby, which I bought in Germany. It has 8 locking position, so I first thought that it might be a Clejuso. But it is smaller in size than my other Clejuso Darbies - one you can see in the pictures for comparison. And the overall shape looks also different to a Clejuso Darby.

The second is a Darby which I purchased from a Belgian seller. It is totally unmarked and I have again no idea about age and manufacturer.

The last one are nice Hiatt plug leg irons, which I got from GB. They are complete with plugs but on side is left and the other right threaded, so the key only matches on one side - luckily the key from my Hiatt Plug-8 perfectly matches the other side. I do not want to know how the seller managed to open both sides with the original key (and he did!).

Best regards and thank you in advance,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Hi Mark,

thank you very much for the reply. I agree that your small Darby looks very similar to mine and that it has the typical Clejuso swivel plus a typical Clejuso twisted long chain.

And the tubes of our small Darbies also resemble the ones from Clejuso leg irons (see picture below). So I think that mine indeed is a Clejuso model like I assumed first.

Best regards,
Guenter

Hi everbody,

recently I acquired three nice pieces for my collection and I hope that some of you might have some additional information for me.

The first one is a very small adjustable Darby, which I bought in Germany. It has 8 locking position, so I first thought that it might be a Clejuso. But it is smaller in size than my other Clejuso Darbies - one you can see in the pictures for comparison. And the overall shape looks also different to a Clejuso Darby.

The second is a Darby which I purchased from a Belgian seller. It is totally unmarked and I have again no idea about age and manufacturer.

The last one are nice Hiatt plug leg irons, which I got from GB. They are complete with plugs but on side is left and the other right threaded, so the key only matches on one side - luckily the key from my Hiatt Plug-8 perfectly matches the other side. I do not want to know how the seller managed to open both sides with the original key (and he did!).

Best regards and thank you in advance,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Guenter

Nice cuffs. I think this is the first plug leg iron I have seen with what I would consider the original chain.

Joe

Hi everbody,

recently I acquired three nice pieces for my collection and I hope that some of you might have some additional information for me.

The first one is a very small adjustable Darby, which I bought in Germany. It has 8 locking position, so I first thought that it might be a Clejuso. But it is smaller in size than my other Clejuso Darbies - one you can see in the pictures for comparison. And the overall shape looks also different to a Clejuso Darby.

The second is a Darby which I purchased from a Belgian seller. It is totally unmarked and I have again no idea about age and manufacturer.

The last one are nice Hiatt plug leg irons, which I got from GB. They are complete with plugs but on side is left and the other right threaded, so the key only matches on one side - luckily the key from my Hiatt Plug-8 perfectly matches the other side. I do not want to know how the seller managed to open both sides with the original key (and he did!).

Best regards and thank you in advance,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Hello Joe,

I also think that it is the original chain. The "patina" perfectly matches the cuffs and the end-pieces are not normal links but specially shaped links that prevent the cuffs to be pulled out of the chain. The seller also told that these leg irons belonged to the great grandfather of the previous owner, who was a policeman in London.

I think that the US$ 200 I paid for this restrint was quite a good investment .

Best regards,
Guenter

Hi everbody,

recently I acquired three nice pieces for my collection and I hope that some of you might have some additional information for me.

The first one is a very small adjustable Darby, which I bought in Germany. It has 8 locking position, so I first thought that it might be a Clejuso. But it is smaller in size than my other Clejuso Darbies - one you can see in the pictures for comparison. And the overall shape looks also different to a Clejuso Darby.

The second is a Darby which I purchased from a Belgian seller. It is totally unmarked and I have again no idea about age and manufacturer.

The last one are nice Hiatt plug leg irons, which I got from GB. They are complete with plugs but on side is left and the other right threaded, so the key only matches on one side - luckily the key from my Hiatt Plug-8 perfectly matches the other side. I do not want to know how the seller managed to open both sides with the original key (and he did!).

Best regards and thank you in advance,
Guenter

Click to expand...

I notice that on the plug leg irons you have that the two center links of the chain
have a twist to them. was there some advantage to the twisted chain?

A thread was started recently about a pair of Peerless handcuffs which in the picture
the chain also appeared to have twisted links.

Great find Atame..

Hi everbody,

recently I acquired three nice pieces for my collection and I hope that some of you might have some additional information for me.

The first one is a very small adjustable Darby, which I bought in Germany. It has 8 locking position, so I first thought that it might be a Clejuso. But it is smaller in size than my other Clejuso Darbies - one you can see in the pictures for comparison. And the overall shape looks also different to a Clejuso Darby.

The second is a Darby which I purchased from a Belgian seller. It is totally unmarked and I have again no idea about age and manufacturer.

The last one are nice Hiatt plug leg irons, which I got from GB. They are complete with plugs but on side is left and the other right threaded, so the key only matches on one side - luckily the key from my Hiatt Plug-8 perfectly matches the other side. I do not want to know how the seller managed to open both sides with the original key (and he did!).

Best regards and thank you in advance,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Correct - the two links in the middle of the chain are twisted but I think that this is the result of a prisoner trying to break he chain, because they are not bent in the same shape and you can see some marks on one link (about 1 to 2 mm deep notches).

The only company I know, which makes handcuffs with twisted links nowadays is Kel-Met from Poland (see picture).

Best regards,
Guenter

Hi everbody,

recently I acquired three nice pieces for my collection and I hope that some of you might have some additional information for me.

The first one is a very small adjustable Darby, which I bought in Germany. It has 8 locking position, so I first thought that it might be a Clejuso. But it is smaller in size than my other Clejuso Darbies - one you can see in the pictures for comparison. And the overall shape looks also different to a Clejuso Darby.

The second is a Darby which I purchased from a Belgian seller. It is totally unmarked and I have again no idea about age and manufacturer.

The last one are nice Hiatt plug leg irons, which I got from GB. They are complete with plugs but on side is left and the other right threaded, so the key only matches on one side - luckily the key from my Hiatt Plug-8 perfectly matches the other side. I do not want to know how the seller managed to open both sides with the original key (and he did!).

Best regards and thank you in advance,
Guenter

Click to expand...

And the Kel-Met handcuffs from Poland with the twisted links look to be of excellent
quality and am sure you are glad to have them in your collection.

Best regards from Michigan in the USA ..

Hi everbody,

recently I acquired three nice pieces for my collection and I hope that some of you might have some additional information for me.

The first one is a very small adjustable Darby, which I bought in Germany. It has 8 locking position, so I first thought that it might be a Clejuso. But it is smaller in size than my other Clejuso Darbies - one you can see in the pictures for comparison. And the overall shape looks also different to a Clejuso Darby.

The second is a Darby which I purchased from a Belgian seller. It is totally unmarked and I have again no idea about age and manufacturer.

The last one are nice Hiatt plug leg irons, which I got from GB. They are complete with plugs but on side is left and the other right threaded, so the key only matches on one side - luckily the key from my Hiatt Plug-8 perfectly matches the other side. I do not want to know how the seller managed to open both sides with the original key (and he did!).

Best regards and thank you in advance,
Guenter

Click to expand...

IMHO the Kel-Met are of very good quality. Better than many Asian cuffs. But it was quite easy for me to get them for my collection since we are selling them at http://www.cuffsland.com/ (under the France/Polland flag) .

Best regards from cold Bavaria,
Guenter