A hinged caseback is a case back that opens on a hinge, a small jointed pin on the case band that lets the cover swing open. In collector shorthand, a hinge back is an open-face case built this way.
How do you open a hinged caseback?
First find the hinge on the edge of the case. Then slide a case knife or a thin, blunt blade into the gap at the lip and give it a slight twist. The cover pops open. On a dome case, that is not the end. The hinged outer cover, called the bottom or back, opens onto a second inner cover beneath it. In English this inner cover is the dome. In French and Swiss usage it is the cuvette. On early key-wound watches, lifting the hinged back exposed this inner cuvette.
Where are hinged casebacks found?
They appear on hunting cases and on some open-face cases. An open-face pocket watch has only one hinged outer cover, at the back. A hunter case has hinged covers at both the front and the back. Collectors use shorthand for the variations. SB&HB means a bezel that screws on and off, paired with a hinged back. HB&B marks an open-face case with hinges on both the bezel and the back. Casemakers call a hinge a joint. That is where the terms jointed back and jointed case come from.
Do wristwatches have hinged casebacks?
Some do. Hinged backs came back on wristwatches in officer-style cases. The first was Patek Philippe’s ref. 3960, in 1989. On these cases the hinge usually sits at 9 o’clock. Patek Philippe’s ref. 5029 moved it to 3 o’clock, under the crown. The Calatrava ref. 5227 also has a hinged back, but its hinge is fully hidden. On a watch like this, the usual way to identify a hinged case, by looking for the hinge on the edge, does not work.
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