Puzzle Locks

Puzzle Locks are part of the Trick Opening classification of puzzles. Often called Trick locks, puzzles in this category might vary from something that looks very much like a regular padlock, but there's no key, or there are keys but they don't seem to fit the lock. You might have to discover a number of moves to manipulate the puzzle so that you can open it; quite unlike any regular padlock you've ever known. There are also puzzles that resemble a lock or a safe that require many moves to open them.

Most puzzlers consider this to be one of the more modern types of mechanical puzzle but when Jerry Slocum, Dic Sonneveld, Vanessa Muros and Jack Botermans published their book Romano-Celtic Mask Puzzle Padlocks in 2017 a long history was revealed. Surprisingly sophisticated puzzle locks were designed to stop the theft of valuables by the Celts as early as the 2nd century BC. The Romans kept the tradition of puzzle locks going right up to about the 400AD so it's clear that these puzzle padlocks predate the earliest known secret opening puzzles but up to 1200 years! It's clear from the research in the book that the designers of these puzzles were very accomplished engineers and locksmiths indeed.

We are often able to source locks from some of the very best contemporary puzzle lock makers. Dan Feldman, famous for the DanLock, and his son Boaz Feldman now following in his footsteps with his B-Lock, Rainer Popp with his very collectable Popplocks, the Wil Strijbos Revenge Lock and Haleslocks from Master Locksmith Shane Hales. But there are so few of these puzzles made, and they are so popular with collectors, that they are often sold out in a very short time.

So despite this being one of the most popular categories of puzzles and there being a very wide variety of different puzzle solutions in this category, some very difficult, some not so hard, puzzles in this category sell out fast.

At times we do have a simple lock puzzle from China, and there are a couple of other lock type puzzles which we can get constantly. Jean Claude Constantin's Lock 250 is a n-ary puzzle which is quite different from other locks. And the 3 digit mechanical safe is a great puzzle; the only problem is you have to build it yourself as well as solve it!