A hunter case is a watch case with a round metal lid on a spring hinge that shuts over the dial and the crystal. The lid is there to protect the crystal on the front. The design also puts the crown at 3 o’clock, which sets hunter watches apart from open-face ones.
Where it comes from
The English name comes from fox hunters. They found it handy to open the watch and read the time using only one hand. The other name, savonnette, comes from savon, the French word for soap. With the lid shut, the case is said to look like a small round cake of soap. Like such a cake, it is slightly domed on top and bottom.
How is a hunter case laid out?
On most antique and vintage hunter-case watches, the lid hinge sits at 9 o’clock. The stem, crown and bow sit opposite, at 3 o’clock. This puts the crown at 3 o’clock rather than at 12 o’clock. To read the time, the lid is opened. It is then shut again to cover the crystal. Where the lid covers the whole dial, the style is sometimes called a full hunter.
Not to be confused with
A demi-hunter, or half hunter, is an in-between style. Its outer lid has a glass panel or a hole in the middle, so the hands can be seen. The time can be read through this small round window without opening the lid. An open-face watch, also called a Lépine, is different again. Its case has no metal cover over the crystal at all. Lépine movements and dials put the pendant and crown at 12 o’clock, not at 3 o’clock as on a hunter.
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