Vintage Winchester Handcuffs

This could be a long post so I'll apologize for that right up front. The seller seems to be an honest, reliable and knowledgable dealer in collectibles and memorabilia who honestly believes these to be authentic. He seems to be willing to answer any questions and has offered to refund the sale price if the cuffs turn out to not be authentic. He obtained the cuffs at a local estate auction along with other items that could be identified as belonging to John A. Hall who died in 1952. Since the cuffs are marked "J A Hall" it's a reasonable assumption that they belonged to him. He's currently checking with the auction house to see what records they might have of who's estate they were part of. The 3 local "experts" that I've shown the cuffs to all agree that the markings appear authentic. There's no signs that they were stamped after they were made and every indication that they were marked prior to being assembled and plated. Winchester's response to my inquiry was totally uninformative. While they do have some characteristics of the 70's Alcyon products, I can't match these to anything I have in my collection or to anything I have a reference for. They're die cut and press assembled. Finishing is minimal and the plating is pretty thin. A standard key will operate them but they seemed to be made for a larger key similar to the Harvards. I have a key that's a good match for them but was never able to identify who made that either. Heavier than the "real police handcuffs" but not even close to "duty" standards. Can anybody point me toward who made them and when?

I have 2 of the identical cuffs here in a drawer.

Mine are exactly the same but do not have the Winchester stamping on any part of the cuff.

What they do have is the word "Japan" stamped in very small letters on one of the chain links.

I would surmise that your cuffs were perhaps made in Japan for the Winchester company.

Cheers, Steve Santini

This could be a long post so I'll apologize for that right up front. The seller seems to be an honest, reliable and knowledgable dealer in collectibles and memorabilia who honestly believes these to be authentic. He seems to be willing to answer any questions and has offered to refund the sale price if the cuffs turn out to not be authentic. He obtained the cuffs at a local estate auction along with other items that could be identified as belonging to John A. Hall who died in 1952. Since the cuffs are marked "J A Hall" it's a reasonable assumption that they belonged to him. He's currently checking with the auction house to see what records they might have of who's estate they were part of. The 3 local "experts" that I've shown the cuffs to all agree that the markings appear authentic. There's no signs that they were stamped after they were made and every indication that they were marked prior to being assembled and plated. Winchester's response to my inquiry was totally uninformative. While they do have some characteristics of the 70's Alcyon products, I can't match these to anything I have in my collection or to anything I have a reference for. They're die cut and press assembled. Finishing is minimal and the plating is pretty thin. A standard key will operate them but they seemed to be made for a larger key similar to the Harvards. I have a key that's a good match for them but was never able to identify who made that either. Heavier than the "real police handcuffs" but not even close to "duty" standards. Can anybody point me toward who made them and when?

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How can it be made in japan when it's clearly stamped "made in U.S.A."???!!!
Please look before you type!

This could be a long post so I'll apologize for that right up front. The seller seems to be an honest, reliable and knowledgable dealer in collectibles and memorabilia who honestly believes these to be authentic. He seems to be willing to answer any questions and has offered to refund the sale price if the cuffs turn out to not be authentic. He obtained the cuffs at a local estate auction along with other items that could be identified as belonging to John A. Hall who died in 1952. Since the cuffs are marked "J A Hall" it's a reasonable assumption that they belonged to him. He's currently checking with the auction house to see what records they might have of who's estate they were part of. The 3 local "experts" that I've shown the cuffs to all agree that the markings appear authentic. There's no signs that they were stamped after they were made and every indication that they were marked prior to being assembled and plated. Winchester's response to my inquiry was totally uninformative. While they do have some characteristics of the 70's Alcyon products, I can't match these to anything I have in my collection or to anything I have a reference for. They're die cut and press assembled. Finishing is minimal and the plating is pretty thin. A standard key will operate them but they seemed to be made for a larger key similar to the Harvards. I have a key that's a good match for them but was never able to identify who made that either. Heavier than the "real police handcuffs" but not even close to "duty" standards. Can anybody point me toward who made them and when?

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At what is stamped on this one pictured because I am not sure they were made in the USA at all.

If they were they would not be an IDENTICAL MATCH to 2 sets I have here that have JAPAN on the chain link.

Simple.

Steve Santini