A half hunter is a pocket watch case whose outer lid has a central hole or glass panel, so the hands show through it. It sits between the open-face and the full hunter. The time can be read without opening the cover, and the lid still protects the crystal.
What does a half hunter lid look like?
Take a hunter lid and set a round, glazed window into its centre. That is a half hunter. The window is often ringed by Roman numerals, either enamelled or engraved. The hands show through the opening, so enough of the dial can be seen to tell the time. The rest of the lid is solid metal. As on a full hunter, the lid is hinged, and its job is to protect the crystal beneath it.
Not to be confused with
A full hunter has a solid lid. It must be opened before the watch can be read. A half hunter shows the time while its cover stays shut. A related style is the three-quarter hunter. Its window is smaller than a half hunter’s, and the top of its lid is solid metal. Check the size of the window and how much metal sits above it.
Where it comes from
In French the case is called a demi-savonnette. Savonnette is the French name for the hunter case. The word comes from savon, meaning soap, because the case looks like a round bar of soap. A popular story credits Napoleon with inventing the demi-savonnette. It is also said that Breguet gave Napoleon a watch of this type. One dealer says demi-hunters are much scarcer than the more traditional case styles.
Are there half-hunter wristwatches?
Yes. The style was also used on wristwatches. The idea is the same as on a pocket watch. A lid covers the dial, and a window in it lets the time be read while the lid stays shut. On a wristwatch, the lid has a small round window at its centre. Only a small area of the dial shows through it. That makes the time harder to read.
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