Antique Pocket Watches are the most sought-after timepieces for watch collectors. Nowadays, authentic antique pocket versions are real rare in the market. If you are interested in timepieces, you must have noticed that those real antique pocket versions are incredibly sky-high sold at watch auctions, almost priceless, but there are still many collectors fighting for the treasure. If you want to buy such a timeless timepiece, it is unnecessary for you spend a huge amount of money which you also can't take out on one model. You can turn to some affordable pocket watches with vintage design to satisfy your need. Before you buy such a timepiece, you should have a clear idea about what type of pocket watches you want.

There are two main styles of pocket watch, the hunter-case pocket watch, and the open-face pocket watch.

Hunter-case watches

A hunter-case pocket watch is one with a spring-hinged circular metal lid or cover, which closes over the watch-dial and crystal, protecting them from dust, scratches and other damage or debris. The majority of antique and vintage hunter-case watches have the lid-hinges at the 9 o'clock position and the stem, crown and bow of the watch at the 3 o'clock position. Modern hunter-case pocket watches usually have the hinges for the lid at the 6 o'clock position and the stem, crown and bow at the 12 o'clock position, as with open-face watches. In both styles of watch-cases, the sub-seconds dial was always at the 6 o'clock position. A hunter-case pocket watch with a spring-ring chain is pictured at the top of this page.

Open-face watches

An open-faced watch is a watch whose case lacks a metal cover to protect the crystal. Usually an open-faced watch appear to have a pendant located at 12:00 and the sub-second dial located at 6:00. Alternatively, such a watch movement may be fitted with a so-called conversion dial, which relocates the winding stem to 12:00 and the sub-second dial to 3:00. After 1908, watches approved for railroad service were required to be cashed in open-faced cases with the winding stem at 12:00.

What type you would like to choose is totally based on your preference and personal style. If you still have no idea, you should follow your intuition that the one catching your eyes at the first sight will be the ideal pocket watch you need to buy.