The decorative elements in the case design with animals and birds are typical of South German watches of the mid-16th century (see Tait and Coole, Catalogue of Watches in the British Museum, vol. I, cat. os 7,8,9 and 10 and illustrations plate 7 a-d. The aperture system in the lid is one more readily associated with a dial having a circle for quarers marked by alternate plain and hatched rectangles. As it is now the apertures in the case do not match the dial underneath. This may well be an indication that the dial does not belong.
