Hello, I have recently started collecting

Hello everyone,
I have been reading this forum for a while now. I am interested in antique handcuffs and restraints, particularly darby style. I find the aesthetics of the design to be very pleasing to the eye. The locking mechanism seems almost ingenious to me.
I started out collecting the KUB reproductions, and only recently have I acquired my first actual antiques.
The intermediary step was actually adding some of the Hiatt cast alloy reproductions to my collection. I think this was actually an interesting transition, in the end, and while the alloy cuffs are sometimes considered inferior, I humbly believe they have a place in the history of darby style restraints.
I have enjoyed researching the different types of cuffs, makers, and history, both through this webpage and through the various online collections, ( Yossie's, Lars Holst, Alex Nichols, UShandcuffs, the Coffman collection, and others).

Here is a picture of the two "actual" antiques that I recently acquired.
https://s20.postimg.cc/tgzorbz71/P1050176.jpg


The top pair are JG1952 handcuffs, which were purchased from Canada. They have the broad arrow mark, and a wonderful dark brown patina that I find that much more impressive after seeing another pair on auction that was quite rusty. The inner surface of the lock tube is labelled "KE2270" and that is the marking on the keys as well. From what I understand, these cuffs were for the British Military, and are of the false backstrap type. They are considerably smaller than the pair below. They were indicated to be of wrought iron.

The second pair is a standard Hiatt darby, marked 'hard', 'hiatt best', and 'warranted wrought.' The cuffs are stamped 159 while the key is stamped 5. It works perfectly as far as I can tell, but the mismatched # may mean it was not the original key?

Interestingly, these are a bit larger than the Hiatt cast alloy non-adjustable cuffs I purchased previously, but the design is otherwise similar.

Here is one more picture of a pair of leg irons I find interesting.
https://s20.postimg.cc/o5ks6mku5/s-l500.jpg
Although it was listed as "iron", it is not magnetic except for the chain, and I believe it is cast alloy.
This is the 2nd pair of Hiatts cast alloy leg irons that I have, and it has a few marked differences from the other pair, and other cast alloy reproductions I have seen. I would like to detail all the information about my cast alloy cuffs in another post.
This pair is marked "Hiatt" on both shackles and "British Made" on one, in quite small font. The differences from this one and the others I have/have seen are as follows:
1. the rivet where the shackles connects to the lock tube is flat, that is, flush with the surface. The others have a noticeably rounded dome shaped rivet.
2. There are 4 large twist links on either side of a swivel, where as the others have 6 smaller twist links on each side.
3. The O rings attaching the chain to the cuff are smaller and more stout.
I find it very interesting that even among these reproductions, there is considerable variation!

I would like to ask a question, as well. I see no need to clean the JG1952 cuffs with the beautiful patina, but the standard Hiatt (104, right?) has a nice patina as well but a bit more rusty looking, and I was considering cleaning it. I have read that it is not recommended to clean antique cuffs, but seeing as how this is a pretty common one, I was thinking of using Simichrome and a soft cloth to clean it up, perhaps with fine steel wool as well. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?
Thank you for your time and for this great forum, a veritable library of knowledge revolving around vintage and antique handcuffs and restraints!

good to see you display your cuffs the right way up. very pleasing to the eye.
https://s20.postimg.cc/tgzorbz71/P1050176.jpg

Hello everyone,
I have been reading this forum for a while now. I am interested in antique handcuffs and restraints, particularly darby style. I find the aesthetics of the design to be very pleasing to the eye. The locking mechanism seems almost ingenious to me.
I started out collecting the KUB reproductions, and only recently have I acquired my first actual antiques.
The intermediary step was actually adding some of the Hiatt cast alloy reproductions to my collection. I think this was actually an interesting transition, in the end, and while the alloy cuffs are sometimes considered inferior, I humbly believe they have a place in the history of darby style restraints.
I have enjoyed researching the different types of cuffs, makers, and history, both through this webpage and through the various online collections, ( Yossie's, Lars Holst, Alex Nichols, UShandcuffs, the Coffman collection, and others).

Here is a picture of the two "actual" antiques that I recently acquired.
https://s20.postimg.cc/tgzorbz71/P1050176.jpg


The top pair are JG1952 handcuffs, which were purchased from Canada. They have the broad arrow mark, and a wonderful dark brown patina that I find that much more impressive after seeing another pair on auction that was quite rusty. The inner surface of the lock tube is labelled "KE2270" and that is the marking on the keys as well. From what I understand, these cuffs were for the British Military, and are of the false backstrap type. They are considerably smaller than the pair below. They were indicated to be of wrought iron.

The second pair is a standard Hiatt darby, marked 'hard', 'hiatt best', and 'warranted wrought.' The cuffs are stamped 159 while the key is stamped 5. It works perfectly as far as I can tell, but the mismatched # may mean it was not the original key?

Interestingly, these are a bit larger than the Hiatt cast alloy non-adjustable cuffs I purchased previously, but the design is otherwise similar.

Here is one more picture of a pair of leg irons I find interesting.
https://s20.postimg.cc/o5ks6mku5/s-l500.jpg
Although it was listed as "iron", it is not magnetic except for the chain, and I believe it is cast alloy.
This is the 2nd pair of Hiatts cast alloy leg irons that I have, and it has a few marked differences from the other pair, and other cast alloy reproductions I have seen. I would like to detail all the information about my cast alloy cuffs in another post.
This pair is marked "Hiatt" on both shackles and "British Made" on one, in quite small font. The differences from this one and the others I have/have seen are as follows:
1. the rivet where the shackles connects to the lock tube is flat, that is, flush with the surface. The others have a noticeably rounded dome shaped rivet.
2. There are 4 large twist links on either side of a swivel, where as the others have 6 smaller twist links on each side.
3. The O rings attaching the chain to the cuff are smaller and more stout.
I find it very interesting that even among these reproductions, there is considerable variation!

I would like to ask a question, as well. I see no need to clean the JG1952 cuffs with the beautiful patina, but the standard Hiatt (104, right?) has a nice patina as well but a bit more rusty looking, and I was considering cleaning it. I have read that it is not recommended to clean antique cuffs, but seeing as how this is a pretty common one, I was thinking of using Simichrome and a soft cloth to clean it up, perhaps with fine steel wool as well. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?
Thank you for your time and for this great forum, a veritable library of knowledge revolving around vintage and antique handcuffs and restraints!

Click to expand...

Hi Ryan,
you've chosen a good type of cuff to collect. In my opinion.
You will rarely find 2 antique wrought cuffs to be exactly the same so you might end up with a lot of them! In particular Hiatt have many types and sizes etc. You have also found variation in their modern cuffs.

But to clarify, the JG 1952 are not antique and not wrought. Military purchases needed to be dated. The definition of antique is over 100 years old, so you'l have to wait until 2052- either that or half the guys here are antiques!!
It is also cast, not wrought. The "false backstrap" is exactly that, cast in the shape of a real hand wrought "backstrap" hinge.
The "reproduction" Hiatts are just a newer cuff in a newer material, made by Hiatt.

Good luck with your collecting.
Paul

Hello everyone,
I have been reading this forum for a while now. I am interested in antique handcuffs and restraints, particularly darby style. I find the aesthetics of the design to be very pleasing to the eye. The locking mechanism seems almost ingenious to me.
I started out collecting the KUB reproductions, and only recently have I acquired my first actual antiques.
The intermediary step was actually adding some of the Hiatt cast alloy reproductions to my collection. I think this was actually an interesting transition, in the end, and while the alloy cuffs are sometimes considered inferior, I humbly believe they have a place in the history of darby style restraints.
I have enjoyed researching the different types of cuffs, makers, and history, both through this webpage and through the various online collections, ( Yossie's, Lars Holst, Alex Nichols, UShandcuffs, the Coffman collection, and others).

Here is a picture of the two "actual" antiques that I recently acquired.
https://s20.postimg.cc/tgzorbz71/P1050176.jpg


The top pair are JG1952 handcuffs, which were purchased from Canada. They have the broad arrow mark, and a wonderful dark brown patina that I find that much more impressive after seeing another pair on auction that was quite rusty. The inner surface of the lock tube is labelled "KE2270" and that is the marking on the keys as well. From what I understand, these cuffs were for the British Military, and are of the false backstrap type. They are considerably smaller than the pair below. They were indicated to be of wrought iron.

The second pair is a standard Hiatt darby, marked 'hard', 'hiatt best', and 'warranted wrought.' The cuffs are stamped 159 while the key is stamped 5. It works perfectly as far as I can tell, but the mismatched # may mean it was not the original key?

Interestingly, these are a bit larger than the Hiatt cast alloy non-adjustable cuffs I purchased previously, but the design is otherwise similar.

Here is one more picture of a pair of leg irons I find interesting.
https://s20.postimg.cc/o5ks6mku5/s-l500.jpg
Although it was listed as "iron", it is not magnetic except for the chain, and I believe it is cast alloy.
This is the 2nd pair of Hiatts cast alloy leg irons that I have, and it has a few marked differences from the other pair, and other cast alloy reproductions I have seen. I would like to detail all the information about my cast alloy cuffs in another post.
This pair is marked "Hiatt" on both shackles and "British Made" on one, in quite small font. The differences from this one and the others I have/have seen are as follows:
1. the rivet where the shackles connects to the lock tube is flat, that is, flush with the surface. The others have a noticeably rounded dome shaped rivet.
2. There are 4 large twist links on either side of a swivel, where as the others have 6 smaller twist links on each side.
3. The O rings attaching the chain to the cuff are smaller and more stout.
I find it very interesting that even among these reproductions, there is considerable variation!

I would like to ask a question, as well. I see no need to clean the JG1952 cuffs with the beautiful patina, but the standard Hiatt (104, right?) has a nice patina as well but a bit more rusty looking, and I was considering cleaning it. I have read that it is not recommended to clean antique cuffs, but seeing as how this is a pretty common one, I was thinking of using Simichrome and a soft cloth to clean it up, perhaps with fine steel wool as well. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?
Thank you for your time and for this great forum, a veritable library of knowledge revolving around vintage and antique handcuffs and restraints!

Click to expand...

Thank you Paul Davies for the clarifications on the definition of "Antique", I wasn't sure what the cut off date was to determine this. After investigating, it looks like these would be considered "vintage", that is, over 20 years old.
I will continue to research and seek to collect a variety of darby style cuffs and shackles. Something that I hope to find one day is a pair of steel darby style leg irons, like the Hiatt 104L or a similar set by another maker. I have rarely come across any, although I did see a pair on ebay recently. Restraintsblog shows few very nice examples of these, and I hope that one will become available to me in time.
If anyone would direct me towards any lesser known sources or auction sites for vintage and antique restraints, I would appreciate the opportunity to browse and to potentially add to my collection over time. Other than ebay, I have found oldhandcuffs.net and one other British surplus website the name of which escapes me at the moment.

Wright Bros, I agree with you about how to display handcuffs! They look nice and symmetrical in this way. The second picture was from the seller, so I should take a new one positioned 'correctly!"

Have any of you come across this amusing article? "Police: Meth user wakes up in 117-year-old handcuffs, freaks out"

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... eTCiaSfoc3

Hello everyone,
I have been reading this forum for a while now. I am interested in antique handcuffs and restraints, particularly darby style. I find the aesthetics of the design to be very pleasing to the eye. The locking mechanism seems almost ingenious to me.
I started out collecting the KUB reproductions, and only recently have I acquired my first actual antiques.
The intermediary step was actually adding some of the Hiatt cast alloy reproductions to my collection. I think this was actually an interesting transition, in the end, and while the alloy cuffs are sometimes considered inferior, I humbly believe they have a place in the history of darby style restraints.
I have enjoyed researching the different types of cuffs, makers, and history, both through this webpage and through the various online collections, ( Yossie's, Lars Holst, Alex Nichols, UShandcuffs, the Coffman collection, and others).

Here is a picture of the two "actual" antiques that I recently acquired.
https://s20.postimg.cc/tgzorbz71/P1050176.jpg


The top pair are JG1952 handcuffs, which were purchased from Canada. They have the broad arrow mark, and a wonderful dark brown patina that I find that much more impressive after seeing another pair on auction that was quite rusty. The inner surface of the lock tube is labelled "KE2270" and that is the marking on the keys as well. From what I understand, these cuffs were for the British Military, and are of the false backstrap type. They are considerably smaller than the pair below. They were indicated to be of wrought iron.

The second pair is a standard Hiatt darby, marked 'hard', 'hiatt best', and 'warranted wrought.' The cuffs are stamped 159 while the key is stamped 5. It works perfectly as far as I can tell, but the mismatched # may mean it was not the original key?

Interestingly, these are a bit larger than the Hiatt cast alloy non-adjustable cuffs I purchased previously, but the design is otherwise similar.

Here is one more picture of a pair of leg irons I find interesting.
https://s20.postimg.cc/o5ks6mku5/s-l500.jpg
Although it was listed as "iron", it is not magnetic except for the chain, and I believe it is cast alloy.
This is the 2nd pair of Hiatts cast alloy leg irons that I have, and it has a few marked differences from the other pair, and other cast alloy reproductions I have seen. I would like to detail all the information about my cast alloy cuffs in another post.
This pair is marked "Hiatt" on both shackles and "British Made" on one, in quite small font. The differences from this one and the others I have/have seen are as follows:
1. the rivet where the shackles connects to the lock tube is flat, that is, flush with the surface. The others have a noticeably rounded dome shaped rivet.
2. There are 4 large twist links on either side of a swivel, where as the others have 6 smaller twist links on each side.
3. The O rings attaching the chain to the cuff are smaller and more stout.
I find it very interesting that even among these reproductions, there is considerable variation!

I would like to ask a question, as well. I see no need to clean the JG1952 cuffs with the beautiful patina, but the standard Hiatt (104, right?) has a nice patina as well but a bit more rusty looking, and I was considering cleaning it. I have read that it is not recommended to clean antique cuffs, but seeing as how this is a pretty common one, I was thinking of using Simichrome and a soft cloth to clean it up, perhaps with fine steel wool as well. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?
Thank you for your time and for this great forum, a veritable library of knowledge revolving around vintage and antique handcuffs and restraints!

Click to expand...

good article, reminds me of 'whole country wakes to find clown at the helm"