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A remarkably scarce, highly complete piece of turn-of-the-century early American cutlery history is available: an original antique Miller Bros. Cutlery Co. 2-blade miniature gents watch chain pocket knife, manufactured in Meriden, Connecticut between 1872 and 1926. The master pen blade features a crisp, beautifully legible block strike of the classic factory Miller Bros stamp marking. This honest Connecticut estate find features an incredibly unique configuration.
The knife is built on a compact 2-1/4 inch shadow frame configuration featuring traditional solid brass handle slabs pinned tightly to the inner liners. The pivot end holds a strong copper-alloy swivel loop carrying a heavy, decorative brass split key ring modeled completely in the shape of a classic good-luck horseshoe, attached to a short length of original brass pocket chain links. The balanced two-blade toolkit carries its original dual carbon steel configuration containing a main pen blade alongside a secondary pen blade folding out from opposite ends. This is a premier opportunity for advanced collectors of early Connecticut hardware and Victorian executive utility artifacts.
Condition Notes
This antique pocket knife is in solid, original working condition and is pictured exactly as it stands. Mechanically, the carbon steel backsprings remain in good operational condition, providing a smooth manual action with standard spring tension and a clean, audible opening and closing snap across both blades with no side-to-side blade wobble when extended. The carbon steel blades show an honest aged gray patina, uniform pocket storage tarnish, and minor pinpoint carbon spots from a century of careful ownership, retaining excellent full historic profiles. The solid brass handle scales are in very good structural shape with no deep dents or structural warping, displaying a handsome deep natural gold tarnish color path. Please review all high-resolution macro photos to closely verify dimensions, tool structures, and exact stamp configurations.
