I found out a few minutes ago that I jumped to a conclusion about this revolver's proper designation, based on what the ersatz owner told me (he's a liberal who don't know squap about guns; it's a family piece).
The barrel is marked Colt New Police .32, which makes it an earlier model.
I'll tell him to swing the cylinder out and check the frame for numbers.
Ohhh. Those things are just cute as buttons. I remember an almost flawless one from our shop. It was one of those guns that I had decided to buy, went in to work that day, and it had sold the previous evening after I left.
I have a long list of guns that suffered that fate...