#Skeleton keys how to#

This key of Turkish origin has cut cross pattern at the bow with unique teeth and cuts. Ottoman Rustic Skeleton Key Price: $72 Release Date: 1980 Keys with unique bows like this are very rare and pricey, this particular one goes for $139. This mystical looking brass key also from Paris in the 1890s is beautifully decorated with bird like figures. Brass Bow Antique Skeleton Key Price: $139 Release Date: 1890 It is made of solid old metal, over 6 inches long and sells for $143. This skeleton key from the 1800s is also of French origin. Antique French Iron Skeleton Key Price: $143 Release Date: 1800 It seems to represent one of the most significant art movements of the twentieth century. It bears the Cocteau drawing and has “THE REGENERATION”. This particular skeleton key is scarce and features faces made of steel.

Vintage Skeleton Key with Faces Price: $550 Release Date: 1950-1959 This model was sourced in France and is made from metal sheeting. 1920s Metal Skeleton Key Price: $595 Release Date: 1920 The prices here are from verified online stores, antique websites and online auction platforms.ġ. Top 10 Rarest Antique Skeleton Keys Around What can I use my antique skeleton keys for?.Where can I find antique skeleton keys?.

#Skeleton keys how to#

How to Determine the Value of Skeleton Keys.

Online Guides, Libraries and Catalogues.

Rustic Antique Steampunk Skeleton Key Set

Top 10 Rarest Antique Skeleton Keys Around.

Like and follow our Facebook page for regular features on locks, keys, safes and security. If you are in the Norfolk area and you find yourself locked out of your home or car, call us on 01603 812613. This lack of security has made the system more or less obsolete.Īt PT Lock and Safe, we’ve turned our fascination with locks and puzzles into a thriving locksmith business. Any of the everyday keys that are only supposed to work in one lock can be filed down and made into a skeleton key.

There is an obvious problem with warded locks that can be opened by a skeleton key. In the Living Daylights, Timothy Dalton’s Bond uses a skeleton key given to him by Q to escape from a pair of handcuffs. They crop up occasionally in movies as well: Beetlejuice, Harold and Maude, and – unsurprisingly – the psychological thriller The Skeleton Key all feature the motif. The fictional skeleton key can frequently open any lock at all! Skeleton Keys make regular appearances in Enid Blyton books and mid-Twentieth Century detective novels. In literature, skeleton keys have acquired functions that their real-world equivalents never had. A slimmer version of the key will not be obstructed by the wards and will be able to turn. The skeleton key is a way of bypassing the wards of these simple locks.

Keys with notches in the wrong place can be inserted but will not turn. It is the rotation of the key that unlocks the bolt. The key has notches that align with obstructions (known as wards) allowing that key to turn. A skeleton key meant that hoteliers could access all the rooms without having to carry a huge bunch of keys around with them.Ī warded lock should only open to a key that is cut in the shape of that lock. Hotels, for instance – where every guest needs a key that opens only their own door, but housekeeping needs access to all the rooms. Historically, skeleton keys were useful in large buildings with many rooms. Stripped of all irrelevant parts – hence skeleton – the key only has the functional opening mechanism for all the doors. A skeleton key is master key for opening all of a particular set of doors.