1950's Japanese Picklock

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JulesVane
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1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by JulesVane »

9"- Nickel/Silver Bolsters- Full Cut D Stamped Brass Liners- Brass Button & Safety- Black Horn Scales- Unsharpened Bayo Blade- Stamped Stainless over Steel (F) & Japan (B). Wish I could find more info. on these, but every Japanese Picklock/ Stiletto/ Switchblade search results in the Rizzuto Estileto Milano. Surely somebody truly loved it for approx. 65 years judging by it's condition. Certainly has the visual resemblance of the Rizzuto "family" IMO. Any links to history or self knowledge is welcome and appreciated...
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"By accepting you as you are, I do not necessarily abandon all hope of your improving"- My Wife (1963-Present)
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whippersnapper
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by whippersnapper »

Nice....I always liked those but don't know anything about them.
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JulesVane
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by JulesVane »

whippersnapper wrote:Nice....I always liked those but don't know anything about them.
Thanks whippersnapper...The popularity of the Rizzuto certainly prevails over any search on Japanese Picklocks from what I've been able to find thus far. One sentence or picture of the picklock, followed by 4 pages of Rizzuto lol.
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"By accepting you as you are, I do not necessarily abandon all hope of your improving"- My Wife (1963-Present)
sammy the blade
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by sammy the blade »

How would you rate the quality compared to a rizzuto and the Italians? From the pictures it looks like it's put together pretty good!
Last edited by sammy the blade on Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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JulesVane
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by JulesVane »

Thanks sammy. I'll try to be delicate with my answer as not to start a Rizzy Riot lol. MUCH better than the 5 Rizzutos that I own, but slightly less quality than the Italians. I think the materials used were very good, just a bit thinner (for lack of a better term), than the Italians. The only reason I used the term "thinner", is by looking at the thickness of the bolster guards. But, I'm honestly very happy to have added it and very surprised by the quality. I wonder: Would it be considered a "clone"? Being Asian made of an Italian design?
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"By accepting you as you are, I do not necessarily abandon all hope of your improving"- My Wife (1963-Present)
gravknife
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by gravknife »

Chris

I love that Japanese Picklock 8)

It looks real decent quality and its such a pleasing shape.

The horn looks great aswell, this looks much better quality than I imagined and I would love to own one in time.

Thanks for sharing it ,
I havnt really looked into the Japanese switchblade offerings as I keep getting sidetracked by different eye-catching pieces shown by you lot here :)

Hope your well mate

Ian
Tom19176
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by Tom19176 »

WOW...Beautiful old knife!
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DonC
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by DonC »

I'm with gravknife, good looking piece and an example of a seldom seen knife. Someone took some time with this one.
Congrats on the acquisition.
DonC
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JimBrown257
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by JimBrown257 »

JPls are pretty cool. They are the precursors to the standard Rizzuto swinger. If you see one of the guardless Rizzutos, they are the transition between the JPLs and REM swingers.
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texans123
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by texans123 »

Nice looking picklock. Being located in Texas I had a number of Rizzuto swingers that came from Mexico, none of them lasted very long unfortunately.
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JulesVane
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by JulesVane »

texans123 wrote:Nice looking picklock. Being located in Texas I had a number of Rizzuto swingers that came from Mexico, none of them lasted very long unfortunately.
I'm totally unaware of today's availability, but for the prices they're fetching on the Bay, I'd be headed South twice a week! lol
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"By accepting you as you are, I do not necessarily abandon all hope of your improving"- My Wife (1963-Present)
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texans123
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by texans123 »

JulesVane wrote:
texans123 wrote:Nice looking picklock. Being located in Texas I had a number of Rizzuto swingers that came from Mexico, none of them lasted very long unfortunately.
I'm totally unaware of today's availability, but for the prices they're fetching on the Bay, I'd be headed South twice a week! lol
I saw a couple of Rizzuto's at a gun and knife show a few years back and could not believe the prices. The survivors go for a pretty penny.
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picklocksrock
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by picklocksrock »

I like this Japanese picklock you got there, it’s really a gem. It definitely has a lot going for it. Speaking of Rizutto, as far as the “classic” swinger. I was wondering, are the older Rizzies with the 5 brass pins, Brass buttons, intricate bale designs,nicely rounded guards, and anything else I left out in terms of comparison as they started getting more lacking with said differences. Are those a lot better quality compared to the more later ones? If so how much better are they because I heard these are better just I’m not sure as to what extent these older ones are. Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated JV.
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JulesVane
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by JulesVane »

Thank you! I've added a few more JPLs the last couple years. The Rizzys came in so many variations, especially with the pins and guards. The single pin, standard pin, no pins (scales tucked under bolsters). Standard guards, no guards, batwing guards, moustache guards. Standard bolster, step bolster...so many! But, JimBrown257, if I'm not mistaken, always said to stay away from the zinc rockers as compared to the steel rockers. In addition, I'm pretty sure he said to stay clear of the flat button models. I'm not sure if the flat button indicated a zinc rocker. But, JimBrown257 is the man to answer any Rizzy questions I've ever had. Here's the JPL additions and thanks for looking!

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"By accepting you as you are, I do not necessarily abandon all hope of your improving"- My Wife (1963-Present)
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picklocksrock
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Re: 1950's Japanese Picklock

Post by picklocksrock »

Those are fantastic!
“Tough times never last, but tough people do”
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