Ok, so whats the story with these? The seller makes it sound like some sort of merger of Peerless and Hiatts is how these cuffs came to be. I think that is hogwash, but someone may correct me if I err.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110225740172

I think the Hiatt 1970 Model was brought about when Hiatt realized that their 1960 model was seriously flawed and hopped on the Peerless clone bandwagon. There were many constables who were reluctant to trade in their darbies for the 1960 swing-thru model as it were, with the obvious security flaws only vindicating their doubts.

The cuffs are hardly as rare as the seller says. If you look at his history he buys cheap on ebay and resells with high reserves. These cuffs were on ebay last week and the high bid was 51.00 US. They didn't sell for 51.00, so the seller is trying again at $ 160.00

Graham:

Whether to call these things a Hiatt cuff or a Peerless cuff is somewhat of a coin flip; however, they were manufactured as some sort of joint venture between the two companies.

Try this thread:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/261154/message/1182690188/

It seems there were five models of handcuffs made by Hiatt under license from Peerless; they're stamped "The Peerless Handcuff" and the box identifies them as "Peerless Handcuffs Made in England by Hiatt & Co. Ltd." and "Manufactured under Patent Royalties from the Peerless Handcuff Co. of America." These are entirely distinct from and pre-date the Hiatt swing through designs introduced by them with the Reliant (which looks like a Peerless but has a weird lock mechanism) and the later 1960 and 1970 models. When the Reliant was introduced in the 1950's it was described as being an "American Patent Handcuff" with no specific mention of Peerless.

The manufacturing dates are obscure, but were most likely made during the 1930's and maybe for a little while afterwards. Until the recent introduction of their model P010, it seems this was the only time Peerless entered into an arrangment to have cuffs manufacured outside the U.S.

For the ones I've got, they're rather crummy compared to an American made Peerless handcuff. The castings are rough, the chain welds sloppy, substandard nickel plating and sticky lock mechanisms. Progressing through the five versions, the quality gets worse and worse with each change.

Franklin

Thanks for the info Franklin..

Thanks for the information Franklin, I obviously do stand corrected. Other than the recent P010 cuffs, I was unaware of the co-op between Hiatt and Perrless.

Even an old guy like me can learn something new!

> If you look at his history he buys cheap on ebay and resells with high reserves.

I saw that he snagged a pair of M-400 Peerless for $41 and re-sold for $205. Good profit margin! I feel sorry for the buyer