Finally some nice new collectibles

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Hi Guenter,

Congratulations to these superb resteaints! The both Schwertfeger bar cuffs are awesome and I've been looking for them myself
for a very long period of time. They are for sure very rare and the craftmanship in manufacture is superior.

Best,

Lars

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Congratulations Guenter, superb additions.

Damon

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Thank you, Lars!

I am really wondering if there is any connection between Schwertfeger and Berliner, because – like J.M. Robin wrote in "Entraves Fers & Menottes Vol. III" - the lock-case and bow part of a Schwertfeger is really redolent to a Berliner cuff - especially when looking at a small lock-case version.

Best regards,
Guenter

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Hi Guenter,

Your both Schwertfeger bar cuffs differ in details but I'm sure they are both the same version. They differ in details as they are forged and hand made.

There are several antique cuffs made in the same way. Just to mention a few, Berliners, Kakola, Lilly, older British Darby cuffs etc... They are all forged. Every cuff is therefore "unique" as they differed in small details and they all have their "personality". Some specimen are better made than others. Just like everything made by hand.

A good example of casted cuffs from about the same time is the Tower cuffs as they are casted. The casting technology gave a much more even quality and all cuffs came out very similar. The drawback of casted metal, especially back in time, is that the metal is more brittle than forged iron. The advantage on the other side is that a production line with casted components took less time and allowed a higher production level which was more profitable for the manufacturer.

According to your question about the similarities between the Schwertfeger and Berliner cuffs. There are for sure obvious similarities. First, these restraints are German and presenting a very high quality of manufacture as they are basically hand made. Second, the design solutions are similar. Especially if you look at the hinge design. Third, the tops were usually painted black.

The problem is that there is no available information on either the Schwertfeger manufacture or the companies which manufactured the Berliner cuffs. Also no patent papers are found. Michael Busch has spent many hours researching patent offices without any results.


Best wishes,

Lars

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

@Damon: sorry, I totally oversaw your reply. Thank you, too! I found an old thread in the Forum, where you show your nice Schwertfeger:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/261154/t ... 6/Untitled

@Lars: I agree, my two Schwertfeger are of the same version. I think that the first one, where the key posts come out a little bit, is older. But this is more a gut feeling. This piece has the only marking – a "15" on one of the lock-case sides. You wanna see the patent paper? Here it is:http://www.atame.info/Sonst/schwertfeger.pdf


BTW: I also found these two nice Schwertfeger threads here:

1. with comparison of two different versions/models:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/261154/t ... t+Auctions

2. with two pieces from Vincula's collection and an old German prison picture with a lot of them hanging on a wall together with interesting leg irons, which are –like mine - for use with additional padlocks:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/261154/t ... Restraints

Best regards,
Guenter

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Hi Günter,

and congratulations to your latest findings! The Schwertfeger-style cuff surely belongs to the rarest you can come across in Germany; the story of where it came from should give all of us collectors hope. I am sure that quite some cuffs are still waiting in cellars and attics to finally make the way into one of our collections, hopefully it will be just a question of time.

The rigid leg-irons are rather similar to a piece I have in my collection, although they are not identical in every aspect. My set looks as it if was zinc-plated, may it be possible that your set also has remains of that kind of plating? And do you have a story behind it?

Again my congratulations, very, very good!

Best,

Michael

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Hello Michael,

thank you for your kind words.

My leg irons were never plated, I would say. They are painted black – similar to the lock-cases of the Schwertfegers.

All I could say is that all the restraints came very likely from the prison of Werl since the seller bought them together with a prison door from there (the restraints were just by-catch - good for me! ).

Could you please show a picture of your similar leg irons? And do you know were they come from?

Best regards,
Guenter

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

BTW: another restraint, that I bought with this small bundle, is this most probably German Darby.



I seems to be the same model like these two, which are in my collection for years.



I am not sure, which company made them. So any ideas are welcome!

Best regards,
Guenter

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Joe Tanner has been selling those german darby keys for years. If they are from the same maker as the cuffs he is you man to ask.

What is known of the german "Berliner" with the rectangular match box size lock case?????

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

The problem is that German Darby keys are very similar. From the left to the right:
1. Clejuso
2. Kayser
3. Unknown Darby marked "Made in Germany"
4. the Darby discussed here



Best regards,
Guenter

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Gee, what happened?!

My Schwertfeger lost its brother!!!

But luckily it found a new friend from Finland instead!



Best regards,
Guenter

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for a great trade Guenter!
I'm very happy with the Schwertfeger!

Have a nice weekend,

Lars

Hello fellow collectors,

I want to share 2014's best additions to my collection (at least so far) with you. The summit was a model, which I have been looking for more than a decade. A model, which I consider to be one of most interesting handcuffs at all. The famous German Schwertfeger.

And I did not only get one but even two of these rare handcuffs. Both differ in details. The keys are not original (I made them myself).

Both cuffs are of the big lock-case version, which differs from the one shown on the 1911 patent. My pieces also have two identical sides – the small lock-case version is mirrored.

It would be very interesting to find out who made them.

They come from the estate of a deceased former warden of the prison in Werl (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Together with these Schwertfegers I obtained a police whistle common "Deutsche Polizei" handcuffs from the 1950s, a German Darby and interesting Lilly handcuffs like bar leg irons. The are well made, unfortunately unmarked and can be locked by a separate pad lock.

















Best regards,
Guenter

Click to expand...

And thank you so much, too, Lars.

It was a perfect deal. Fast and uncomplicated and we both are very happy with our new additions!

Best regards,
Guenter