I am the current owner of this page from the March 23, 1904 Tatler magazine that caused so much discussion on the Forum at Handcuffs.Org in 2014.
Prior to this page surfacing, there was the Mirror Cuff (aka DC Cuff) with its long key and the Solid Silver Replica, both in David Copperfield’s collection.
And now added to the mix, is the Tatler Cuff with a short key, which could very well be the original cuff he escaped from.
Handcuffs.Org forum pointed out that the Solid Silver Replica looks like (it was modeled after) the Tatler Cuff in the photo not the DC Cuff. That was shown by the direction of the middle hinge and the “foot” on the catch.
The original key used in the famous photo taken at the London Hippodrome in the presence of London Newspapers is short, but is that the Tatler Cuff or DC cuff being locked on his wrists?
To help possibly answer that question, let’s looks at another subtle difference (not previously pointed out) between the DC Cuff and the Tatler/Solid Silver Cuffs.
The outermost point of the convex curved bow in the closed/locked position of the DC cuffs appears to be inside of a 90 degrees angle from the keyhole end cap, where the Tatler/Solid Silver Cuffs appears to line up more closely to a 90 degrees angle. And the outermost concave part of the curved bow on the Tatler/Solid Silver Cuffs appears to be more curved (or curve in more) than the DC Cuff. (Assumption: Tatler when locked lines ups with Solid Silver Cuff).
To my eye, the keyhole knob is facing up in the famous photo and the outermost convex point of the curved bow appears to be at a 90 degrees angle or more. And the outermost concave part of the curved bow appears to curve in quite a bit. Also notice the small key, which resembles the Tatler key.
So he escaped from the Tatler Cuff, a matching Solid Silver Manacle was presented, and the DC Cuff was shown to locksmiths and used for the reward after.
Thoughts on my circumstantial evidence.
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