A cushion case is a watch case with a roughly square or rectangular outline and corners rounded so heavily that the shape bulges outward like a pillow. It belongs to two eras: the modern forms of the 1920s and the compact skindiver watches of the late 1950s and 1960s.
Not to be confused with
The difference between a tonneau case and a cushion case is in proportion. A tonneau swells at the sides and is longer than it is wide. A cushion case is closer to a softened square. Its corners are rounded so heavily that the outline bulges outward like a pillow. A quick test helps. If the case looks tall and swollen at the flanks, it is a tonneau. If it looks like a square pressed soft, it is a cushion.
Where it comes from
Cushion-shaped watches were made in the 1920s alongside rectangular and tonneau ones. All three were part of a broader taste for modern forms at the time. Hamilton launched a watch named Cushion in 1926, in the middle of that decade. The company presents the softly curved cushion shape as an expression of Art Deco design.
Which watches use a cushion case?
The shape gained a second association in the late 1950s and 1960s. In those years, the cushion case became closely tied to compact skindiver watches. That came more than three decades after Hamilton’s Cushion of 1926. The shape is not tied to one maker. Watches from Panerai, Patek Philippe and Piaget have it.
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