Watch Terminology

Could someone please define for me the terms "hacking" and "non-hacking" in regards to mechanical watch movements. I assume they have something to do with the ability to set a watch precisely. Thanks.

To "hack" is the ability to stop the sweep second hand so you can (as you said), set the watch precisely.

Mike

yes, pull the crown out, and the seconds hand automagically stops at the 12-o clock position, so synching time with rest of your team/group for time-critical things ( in the short run, since it will drift w/ time)

The second hand does NOT automatically go to the 12 when the crown is pulled out, except in one very, very expensive mechanical movement from the ultra-prestigious Lange. A hacking movement is one in which you can manually synchronize the seconds hand with the minute hand by pulling out the crown and stopping the movement when the seconds hand hits the 12, and then moving the minutes hand to the correct index mark; a non-hacking movement does not permit the second hand to be stopped. One common non-hacking mechanical movement is the bullet-proof one found in some Seiko dive watches; when you pull out the crown to set the time, the seconds hand doesn't stop.

So to synch the seconds and minutes hands on a hacking watch, you try to pull out the crown just when the sweep seconds hand hits twelve, then you turn the crown (usually backwards) to set the minutes hand. In old war movies, you hear the officer say "Hack" when he and his troops all push in the crowns to start the movements on the watches again. Depending on the movement, you have to turn the crown back or forward at least 30 minutes to take up slack in the gearing and get the hands to start moving at the proper time -- on three of my mechanicals with ETA 2824 or 7750 movements, I have to move the minute hand back by at least 30 minutes to properly synch the three hands, on another ETA 2824 I have to move them forward and have the seconds hand 5 seconds behind the 12 to get the minute and hour hands to synch exactly with the seconds hand once the crown is pushed in and the movement starts up. All depends on the tolerances and assembly of a particular movement.

If you're getting a mechanical, learn when you should not change the time. For example, on a 7750 chronograph movement, you should never set the time between 9 pm and 3 am because it can ruin the movement (screws up the day/date gearing).

Other misc. watch terminology: it's not a "face", it's a "bezel".

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't realize the second hand actually stopped on some watches. Now I know my incredibly classy and expensive ($20) Vostok Amphibian is non-hacking.

I believe it's the date that should not be set between 9 and 3 on the 7750. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

My understanding of the 7750 is that the day/date mechanism starts to build tension at 9 pm, and that if you interfere with the movement after that point to move the hands to adjust the time, you can damage things. It's not just the day/date quick change that you shouldn't do (the first of the clicks on the crown's travel) but the last, for the main mechanism.

Hmmm. I haven't had to worry about any of the above issues with my $30 Timex Ironman's! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif And I'd bet a SureFire L4 that it's more accurate than any of the watches mentioned above.

Cheers, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

Dave

Yes the quartz's are better time keepers BUT the mechanicals do have a great charm in the mechanisms themselves. I just recently started to wear a watch most of the time (all pun intended)
hahaha
I'm enamored with the automatic movements and the complexity and beauty of the watch. Expensive to inexpensive a watch has a beauty all it's own.
Tom
PS I agree with not setting the date from 9pm till 5am. I believe that you can set the time.
Tom

First of all, it would be silly if you can't change the time between 9 and 3am. What if you stop wearing it and the movement stops between those two times? Do you have to wind it up and wait for all those hours first? I think some of those watch cautions are a little overstated.

As for the accuracy of the Timex. I'll take that bet. My Ironman loses about a second a day. Quartz doesn't mean that its perfectly accurate. There are lots of mechanicals that are within a second or two every day. Even my cheap Citizen diver with the automatic Miyota movement was under 4 secs a day accurate.

Mark

JML - Interesting, my 7750 only came with a warning on setting the date between 9 and 3.

I'm sorry that we've strayed from "hack"
But this is, perhaps, important trivia on date operation in a mechanical watch /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Ah well the Seiko corp site was worthless here's a site that says what the seiko instruction book states re setting date
Here

and here

this is a snippet of info contained at this site
"It is possible that a shock to the watch right around the date change can throw the mechanism off. The more common causes are from the owner manually changing the date within three or four hours either side of midnight, or setting the time backwards across midnight. The frequency that this problem occurs makes it disconcerting that few watch makers provide warnings about this in their instruction manuals. What happens is that if you alter the date setting while the date change gear is near to pushing the date forward, you may push the mechanism slightly out of alignment. This seldom causes any real damage, though it can. Most often, it will shift the time that the date change occurs--usually further from midnight.

The good news is that this is easily corrected when the watch is being serviced. Simply mention the date change is off when you send the watch in for its routine cleaning or other service."
Tom

Mechanical Watch FAQ

Lots of interesting terminology and information about watches. One more thing, you cannot manually wind or hack the Seiko Automatic 7S26 movement.

Mike

If you're interested:

EOT Discussion Forum - http://www.equationoftime.com/forums/WatchDiscussion/index.cgi
German Watches Forum - http://www.watchuseek.com/watchforum/
Military Watch Resource - http://www.broadarrow.net/forsale.htm
Sinn Forum - http://www.watchuseek.com/sinnforum/
TimeZone Discussion Forum - http://forums.timezone.com/
Watch Central Forum - http://www.watchuseek.com/wuswc/index.html
Equation of Time - http://www.equationoftime.com/
IWC Forum - http://www.iwc.ch/index-en.asp
Limes Forum - http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/62292
ThePurists.com - http://www.thepurists.com/
TimeZone - http://www.timezone.com/
Watches-of-the-World - http://www.watches-of-the-world.com/
WatchNet.com Forum - http://www.watchnet.com/forums/watchtalk/
WatchUseek - http://www.watchuseek.com/

FlyingTurtle
That Vostok Amphibian is a cool watch.
Any pics??
Tom

TOB9595

Here's a pic of my Vostok. I found this on sale at Restoration Hardware after Christmas for $20. Got another for my son about a month ago. It's really a great deal, though it is a bit funky. The band was almost too short, but otherwise it works fine. It's 31 jewels, automatic, 200 m waterproof, and screw down crown. Initially it was accurate to around 5 sec/day. Now it seems to vary plus or minus about 20 sec/day. Definitely worth the 20 bucks.

[ QUOTE ]
iddibhai said:
..synching time with rest of your team/group for time-critical things ( in the short run, since it will drift w/ time)

[/ QUOTE ]
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Seriously? You guys don't use atomic watches? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

Once you've tried 'em you can't go back.

While I can certainly appreciate the positive gadget factor of atomic watches and have a couple regular quartz electrics, there's just something special about all those gears, levers, and springs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

so most auto's dont auto-'hack' to 12, i thought more than just the lange did. but anyway, i like autos, wear one, quite nice going to sleep to the ticktickticktick sound. only have to adjust up or down a minute or so every month, so i'm fine with it. now, i wish autos with chronographs were more affordable...