Dating a chunky pair of unknown brand Darby handcuffs

Hi.

Is there any chance anyone knows what brand these are and/or how old they may be? Pictures are attached. They are really chunky/fat from the pictures.

Indian. Mid century, maybe a bit earlier.

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 08, 2022

Hi.

Is there any chance anyone knows what brand these are and/or how old they may be? Pictures are attached. They are really chunky/fat from the pictures.

Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing. I saw those when they popped up yesterday on eBay. Ron j

Well what I have found out so far is they are old, they are made in India and my current guestimation is they are from the WW2 era.

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

Well what I have found out so far is they are old, they are made in India and my current guestimation is they are from the WW2 era.

Did you purchase them? Ron J

rejones68 wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

Well what I have found out so far is they are old, they are made in India and my current guestimation is they are from the WW2 era.

Did you purchase them? Ron J

I did. I made an offer, was made a counter-offer and I accepted.

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

rejones68 wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

Well what I have found out so far is they are old, they are made in India and my current guestimation is they are from the WW2 era.

Did you purchase them? Ron J

I did. I made an offer, was made a counter-offer and I accepted.

Congratulations! I thought he was asking a bit much for them. Nice looking set for sure. Ron J

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

Well what I have found out so far is they are old, they are made in India and my current guestimation is they are from the WW2 era.

The other thing of note to take away fromthis is that since these are an earlier Indian Darby, they are actually of a good quality. The older Indian Darbies are quite collectable and not the cheaper mass produced junk that we see come from India, today. I think you made a good purchase.
-Richard Knip-

djhalfdead wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

Well what I have found out so far is they are old, they are made in India and my current guestimation is they are from the WW2 era.

The other thing of note to take away fromthis is that since these are an earlier Indian Darby, they are actually of a good quality. The older Indian Darbies are quite collectable and not the cheaper mass produced junk that we see come from India, today. I think you made a good purchase.
-Richard Knip-

Thanks.

I had no idea what they were. No brand mentioned, no age mentioned. Looked like some possibly fantasy recreations of something but I decided to have a go to see. I mentioned to the guy it was a shame they weren't from a big name brand (to help justify my lower offer price). All in it's cost me £60 total. Hopefully that is a decent price. I am mainly interested in the fact it's that weird "Sheffield" style mechanism. It'll be the first of it's kind, so that will be interesting and cool for me, aside from their large and heavy nature.

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

djhalfdead wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

Well what I have found out so far is they are old, they are made in India and my current guestimation is they are from the WW2 era.

The other thing of note to take away fromthis is that since these are an earlier Indian Darby, they are actually of a good quality. The older Indian Darbies are quite collectable and not the cheaper mass produced junk that we see come from India, today. I think you made a good purchase.
-Richard Knip-

Thanks.

I had no idea what they were. No brand mentioned, no age mentioned. Looked like some possibly fantasy recreations of something but I decided to have a go to see. I mentioned to the guy it was a shame they weren't from a big name brand (to help justify my lower offer price). All in it's cost me £60 total. Hopefully that is a decent price. I am mainly interested in the fact it's that weird "Sheffield" style mechanism. It'll be the first of it's kind, so that will be interesting and cool for me, aside from their large and heavy nature.

Click to expand...

For 60 gbp, you did great! The Sheffield pattern is a neat twist on a darby. The only Sheffield Pattern Darby I have is a single cuff on a chain with a ring on the end. Mine is also an earlier (possibly down to 1920s) Indian made piece.
-Richard Knip-

That is really a cool piece you have. I think I saw 1 mention of this other mechanism before but I have never had one of it before. I am super excited to receive (maybe even tomorrow!! ) these new cuffs. The 1 downside is there will only be 1 key, so it has to go on my "This key-lanyard will open every cuff I have" keyring. Normally I have a categorised set of bags. Black keyrings are totally unique keys, yellow tags are "standard" style keyways and red are standard style keyways which require a split like ASP blue or Chicago X22 etc. But for any cuff that I only have 1 key and they are weird enough that nothing else will do, the key goes on my personal lanyard, for safety reasons.

Ok, so I received them today. Oh my god. I love them. 848 grams without the key. This is a large size. I can even spin my wrists around in them. I have a feeling it's not a full "sheffield pattern" mechanism because there's no hole in the bottom of the key to negotiate around any key posts, but still, it strikes me as an excellently manufactured pair of heavy and strangely comfortable handcuffs.

The size of the key was a big shock too! I just put a bit of oil in the pawl side of the mechanism and a tiny bit in the keyway that interacts with the screw key and I have renaissance waxed them. I love them. I just love them.

The springs are so fierce that I cannot snap them closed without using the key. The slope of the pawl might have something to do with the perceived spring strength though.

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

djhalfdead wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

Well what I have found out so far is they are old, they are made in India and my current guestimation is they are from the WW2 era.

The other thing of note to take away fromthis is that since these are an earlier Indian Darby, they are actually of a good quality. The older Indian Darbies are quite collectable and not the cheaper mass produced junk that we see come from India, today. I think you made a good purchase.
-Richard Knip-

Thanks.

I had no idea what they were. No brand mentioned, no age mentioned. Looked like some possibly fantasy recreations of something but I decided to have a go to see. I mentioned to the guy it was a shame they weren't from a big name brand (to help justify my lower offer price). All in it's cost me £60 total. Hopefully that is a decent price. I am mainly interested in the fact it's that weird "Sheffield" style mechanism. It'll be the first of it's kind, so that will be interesting and cool for me, aside from their large and heavy nature.

Click to expand...

If you got them for 60£ total he lowered the price quite a bit for you. If I remember right he was looking  for an opening bid of something like 100£ It’s nice when a seller will make a deal with you. Ron J

rejones68 wrote: ↑

Nov 10, 2022

silentbd wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

djhalfdead wrote: ↑

Nov 09, 2022

The other thing of note to take away fromthis is that since these are an earlier Indian Darby, they are actually of a good quality. The older Indian Darbies are quite collectable and not the cheaper mass produced junk that we see come from India, today. I think you made a good purchase.
-Richard Knip-

Thanks.

I had no idea what they were. No brand mentioned, no age mentioned. Looked like some possibly fantasy recreations of something but I decided to have a go to see. I mentioned to the guy it was a shame they weren't from a big name brand (to help justify my lower offer price). All in it's cost me £60 total. Hopefully that is a decent price. I am mainly interested in the fact it's that weird "Sheffield" style mechanism. It'll be the first of it's kind, so that will be interesting and cool for me, aside from their large and heavy nature.

If you got them for 60£ total he lowered the price quite a bit for you. If I remember right he was looking  for an opening bid of something like 100£ It’s nice when a seller will make a deal with you. Ron J

Click to expand...

Yes always a nice thing. My video on these is live