Vintage Latama and Rosco Picklocks
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2024 6:18 pm
This past year, I managed to finally obtain the first ever vintage 1950s Italian picklocks for my collection. First knife in the pic is a 9” inch Latama. The second one is an 11” Rosco.
The Rosco I found at a pawn shop. When I asked to look at it, I thought there was no way I’d be able to afford it. When I asked the guy the price, you’re not going to believe what he said. $40!!! That’s right! My jaw just about dropped! The guy obviously didn’t know what he had. I’ve seen them go for at least $400 in the condition this one is in! I immediately whipped out two twenties and I finally had my first picklock! I got it for about a fraction of the price they normally go for!
The Latama I discovered at one of my local antique malls. The lady who worked there showed it to me saying they just got it in. At the time, the knife was actually broken. The blade wouldn’t stay closed. The button appeared to be jammed and the seer wouldn’t come down to close the blade. The lady said in proper working order the knife would be worth at least $275. She let me make her an offer and I offered to buy it for $80 which she accepted. Upon getting the knife home I tried soaking it in some different oils. After doing that, I held it upside down and the button appeared to loosen up allowing me to push the safety up under the button which then allowed the blade to close. I fired it open and that worked fine but the button wouldn’t go back up after being depressed. It then became apparent what the problem was. The rocker spring for the button was broken. So I could get the knife closed, it would just require holding it upside down and using the safety to close it. I left it in my display in the open position for a couple months. I then found someone on Instagram who fixes switchblades. He gave me a good deal on a repair and I sent the knife in to him to have a new rocker spring installed. I got the knife back a little over a week ago. It functions perfectly now. The repair ended up costing me $110, so $190 overall is what the knife ended up costing me in the end.
Overall I’m very happy to have these. I was incredibly lucky to get them both for the prices I got them at.
The Rosco I found at a pawn shop. When I asked to look at it, I thought there was no way I’d be able to afford it. When I asked the guy the price, you’re not going to believe what he said. $40!!! That’s right! My jaw just about dropped! The guy obviously didn’t know what he had. I’ve seen them go for at least $400 in the condition this one is in! I immediately whipped out two twenties and I finally had my first picklock! I got it for about a fraction of the price they normally go for!
The Latama I discovered at one of my local antique malls. The lady who worked there showed it to me saying they just got it in. At the time, the knife was actually broken. The blade wouldn’t stay closed. The button appeared to be jammed and the seer wouldn’t come down to close the blade. The lady said in proper working order the knife would be worth at least $275. She let me make her an offer and I offered to buy it for $80 which she accepted. Upon getting the knife home I tried soaking it in some different oils. After doing that, I held it upside down and the button appeared to loosen up allowing me to push the safety up under the button which then allowed the blade to close. I fired it open and that worked fine but the button wouldn’t go back up after being depressed. It then became apparent what the problem was. The rocker spring for the button was broken. So I could get the knife closed, it would just require holding it upside down and using the safety to close it. I left it in my display in the open position for a couple months. I then found someone on Instagram who fixes switchblades. He gave me a good deal on a repair and I sent the knife in to him to have a new rocker spring installed. I got the knife back a little over a week ago. It functions perfectly now. The repair ended up costing me $110, so $190 overall is what the knife ended up costing me in the end.
Overall I’m very happy to have these. I was incredibly lucky to get them both for the prices I got them at.
I'm sure Mario figured that if you or other mechanic's at AAPK would be too expensive for him to afford, whereas "someone on Instagram" a non-knife forum, would be a guy who fixes knives as a hobby and wouldn't charge as much. A lot of us old guys live strictly on pensions so we need to save wherever we can. At least now he'll know better for the future.
