These are genuine HIATT BEST British police handcuffs, made somewhere between 1920 and 1938.
These are wrought iron handcuffs, hand-made. They have a very slightly larger wrist capacity size than my R.C.S Military handcuffs.
While these have a little lateral play on the hinge, the snap-close feature is smoother on these than the R.C.S model.
These are a Derby handcuff, meaning the style is very Victorian. This style of handcuff had been used from the mid 1800's till the mid 1900's and is in fact still used in some eastern countries like Pakistan. These are non-adjustable, so it was not the most convenient for police because if someone had giant wrists, they might not fit. If someone's wrists were too small they could slip out of them!
These work smoothly after the work I did on them. I blasted them inside and out with PMA Brake & Clutch cleaner (evaporates and leaves no residue), this removed bits of gunk, old lubricants and got them decently clean. Then I inserted the key and fully unlocked and dowsed the insides with the WD40 Specialist Dry PTFE lubricant I use in all my cuffs and worked the key back and forth to ensure the whole mechanism was lubricated. Then I sprayed some PMA again on the outside to get excess lubricant off (I had to add some more lubricant to the hinge after this video because it washed off and you can hear the squeak!) and then gave these cuffs 3 coats of Renaissance wax to protect the metal and give it a nice sheen.
I show these used behind my back, only because I am confident in accessing the keyholes. I'm a fairly large guy and I do not have the same flexibility to use keys in small keyholes behind my back. But Darby ones are amongst the very view I can let you see how they look from the back.
Enjoy!
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