The narrow base of the case has a cylindrical metal part inserted right through both halves that acts a hinge so the two halves of the case can slide open and closed. The case is further secured with ring that has been woven from a thick fibre, it slides up the handle until it is tight around the thicker part of the handle, thus holding the two halves together. These scales would have been used to weigh small scale items such as powders, herbs etc. These scales and others like it would have come to Samoa through the waves of Chinese settlers and indentured labourers in the mid 18th century to the mid 19th century.