I have a case design question that's been bugging me for a long time, so here goes.Anyone have any idea why, on some hinged cases, the hinges are offset to one side,say at about 8 o'clock instead of at the bottom 6 o'clock position, as most were? I can't think of any reason to do it that way,other than to be different. Thanks!...Ted.

I am with you Ted, I do not know why, the only thing I can think of is that it's a carry-over from the early English case makers, as nearly all of theirs tend to have the off-set hinges.

Cheers,
Bila

I always thought it was a design consideration to keep the case from becoming too thick from piling one hinge on top of another. By offsetting them, they could still cover all parts that needed to swing open without sacrificing the case size.

Just my pet theory, though.

Regards! Mark

Thanks Mark & Bila,both answers make sense.There is book about American cases by Warren Neibling that I never bought way back when,but wish I did, the answer may be in that book.I've seen some sharp looking old cases that were built that way, and always wondered why.Thanks again, Ted.

I have that book, Ted read it years ago but do not recall any reference to why they were made with offset hinges.

Maybe if the lips or bevels and the hinges are 180 degrees apart, this could be less stressful on the hinges when opening . Otherwise if the hinges were 180 opposite the pendant at 6 oclock, a little twisting of hinge would occur when opening, like opening a lid from the side
It seems that most of these offset hinges are on heavier cases that have rigid bezels/covers with no flex.
This is only my guess, no references

Thanks Paul, yet another answer that makes sense, also seems to me that these are on early cases, say well before 1900. Take care, Ted.

As these 19th century cases were only simplified versions of the two-three nested cover set case designs of the late 18th century, much still was being learned about the economies of scale demanded by the much, much larger volumes of soon to be standardized US machine-made watches.

Hence early unified design staggered-hinge watch cases still had many details assembled to the case body to facilitate the setting, winding and protection of the movement. At the very least, the lift spring usually installed for the top cover occupied a lot of hinge area in the case, so staggering the hinges made fabrication easier.

As we work on cased watches of this period and later the evidence is clear that case fitment was an ongoing headache for all "standard" size watches.

Thanks Dave!I guess back then "standard size" wasn't industry standard, a perfect example of that nightmare is the '88 model Waltham, as we all know there are scads of really nice movements, and about zero cases for them! Take care, Ted.