What is a Hacking Watch Movement and How Does it Work? - Watch and Learn #35 

Who are these losers giving these videos a thumbs down. This stuff is great. Thanks for taking the time.

So that's how it works. I had thought the second hand stopped because power was decoupled like putting a car transmission into neutral. I had no ideal the entire movement is 'stalled' during hacking. Thank you very much for showing that.

I watched and learned something today. Thank you .

Couldn't have been explained better, thank you!

I am learning and having fun at the same time watching the W&L series. Nice job Marc! Keep them coming.

Great video. I'm a mech engineer and really loving this series, you have a very clear way of explaining everything and it's neat to really consider all the problem solving and design that goes into these little things (just got my first automatic mechanical recently, a cheap little Seiko 5 speed racer, had some fun replacing the horrid folded bracelet with a nato strap and I love the thing even if I scratched it- oops). Also I love those Seagull 63s. Every time I see it on your videos l I want one more and think I may need to make one of those my second piece . Do you think any more acrylic crystal 38mm will be sourced at your shop? I've been considering snagging a sapphire one before they're gone but think the acrylic really accentuates the vintage feel -and the cost would be a plus.

You ought to show how Glycine did hacking on the original Airman. It's something not a lot of watchmakers are familiar with, and tends to be a function that gets broken when an unfamiliar watchmaker services an Airman. There's a lever that moves a tiny wire up through the face into the path of the second hand at the top of its sweep, stopping it from moving.

Fascinating. It's really surprising that the friction lever contact point against the balance wheel is so simple and effective. I guess not that much pressure is needed to stop the balance wheel in its tracks. Great addition to the W&L series!

I think you should give watchmaking another go. You seem to have a talent for it. It would certainly blend with your engineering background.

This is from what I understand about quartz/electronic time devices. On a quartz watch when pulling out the crown of a mechanical quartz watch it stops the electronics to the drive motor circuit. There are different design techniques to achieve the same effect. On a digital quartz watch pressing the set button and selecting seconds reset to go to zero it does a zero set in the seconds counter circuit. The master oscillator and main circuits are always working. In a digital watch if the power is completely cut the display will go out.

Thankyou - very educational and I now know a little bit more about hacking today that i didn't yesterday

Please explain the need for hacking and it value to a watch.

Very nice video Marc! I regulate my watches so they are a little on the fast side, maybe 2-3 sec/day so I can set them by just use that "hack break" to set them correctly maybe once a week. Now I know what is going on inside my Eta 2824-2, 7750 and NH35A. Keep up the good work! :)

Mark, great video! I may not have listened carefully enough but I'll still ask, are there other mechanisms that don't use a friction stop to hack? Also, do you think as some say that hacking can damage the mechanism? Thank for your great series and continued good luck with LIW.

Great video, fun little anecdote my watch looks like it uses the exact same movement (or at least the same automatic rotor). I own a Tissot Visodate and I was staring at this like damn that looks familiar

great video, I just now at 50 I'm getting into watchmaking and repair and have been looking into getting me a microscope for it, but its daunting as there's many out there. what would you recommend for a scope around 200-400 give or take dollars new or used. I see the good magnification in the video and how you have room to work under it. Thankyou for all the videos

Hey Mark, thank you for the video, as always you provide very intuitive information in a very understandable format. I have an idea for a future watch and learn video I was hoping you would consider. Moonphase watches have recently caught my attention and was hoping you could do a video on the differences between a "true moonphase watch" and a watch that simply acts as an AM/PM indicator. As always, thank you for the videos, I truly enjoy watching and learning from them.

Loved you in the show Weeds

Good videos, Marc.

I like your explanations and videos! Very interesting. Learning experience! Thanks!

Loving this series. Currently looking at the Citizen Atomic Timekeeping watches and wondered if you planned on making a video on Atomic Timekeeping and/or comparing stainless steel with titanium (there are two versions and I'm stuck between the two). Thanks and keep up the great series!

Yourv videos are extremely informative and useful

That is a very nice classic Datejust. Your dad has good taste in watches. Guess it's not that surprising he liked nice watches, seeing what his son got into.

wow, very cool video Mark, thanks very much for showing us!

Love this video ! Good work man!

Thank you for creating this great content. Learnt new things today.

Loved this. Thanks for the indepth look at the movement.

thank you for this great video marc, now I know what hacking is and how it works.

Thank you. Excellent information, well presented and succinct.

My blue ray i ordered from you come today, it is absolutely beautifull! I just have 2 questions regarding the crown. How hard should i screw it down for it to be water resistant etc? It makes a weire buzzing sound when i screw in the crown, is this normal? Its my first mechanical watch :)

For some reason my nh35 movement had a loose hacking lever (I did wear the watch in a pretty abusive way tho). My watch stopped sometimes and I didn't understand why. I noticed the loose lever so I just superglued in lol. My watch works now. It doesn't have the hacking option now obviously. Eventually I'll replace the movement

This was very interesting. An enjoyable watch and learn. I learned something today.

Does this not damage the balance wheel over time?

Does leaving a movement in hacking position for too long damage the watch?

Hi, I repaired my movement from another side, & adjusted the lever, but when I pull the stem out, still running unfortunately & if I rotate miles many time, stop little then work again, how can adjust the lever again can you explain?

Thanks! Learned something new today.

thank you I watch your canel a lot I find all your explanations very good

Whouldn't it damage the movement if we use the hacking to much or for too long?

Hey Mark my Hamilton Khaki Mechanical has hacking but sometimes it won’t hack when I pull out the crown. It’s not a screw down crown so it should just hack every time right? Just bought it so i don’t know if I should return it

Thanks ,this is very useful...

Ok so I learned a new thing today, thanks Mark. Looking at how simple the method of hacking is makes me wonder why the watch companies don't implement it in all of their movements.

In adventure military and thriller movies and novels & television shows, a team leader will call for everyone on the team to "synchronize your watches everybody " ; does this refer to the need for 'to the minute hacking' ? Wasn't it necessary for aerial bombing missions ?

Awesome video Marc, very informative!

Another great teaching video! Thanks !

Such a pleasure to watch it. thanks, for this video

Why is it important? Or what is the use of the hacking lever? It stops the second hand. Why is that good or important?

Do you actually go out in two watches? Sometimes i bring my small seagull to time things when i wanna wear a panerai or whatever with no chrono and im always worried people would look at me weird.

So that's how that works!. Great to know. Thanks for all the instructional vids.

How does "back-hacking" work on seiko/other watches? -Where one applies a mild back pressure on the crown so the second hand stops. And does it actually risk damaging the movement of the watch, if so how? I'd like to know.

Hi what steel it is in watch movement. It is different between watchis? Thank you

Nice video. One thing though, the camera seems to always focus on the wall behind you during the couch parts of the videos.

what do you think is the problem when after pushing back in ,(when the lever lifts up from the balance wheel) ,and the balance wheel does not start back on its own. it requires a little shake

Since I bought my automatic watch , I have not been wearing any of my quartz watches. The quartz do not feel like a real watch to me any longer. l am fascinated by the beautiful work of art in mechanical watches.

Easy decision to subscribe. Great video. Thanks

Hey my watch seems to have a problem starting back up again after being stopped from hacking. if i removed the hacking lever would it still function as a normal watch but with out hacking?

Great video, and explanation...

Thank you Mark. I just bought Seiko SSA374J1 with 4R71 movement. I “hack” my watch 3 times a day to match time with time.is I only pull crown to stop second hand at 12 and put it back. My question is does this damage my watch?

Great video! Very educational. 👍🏻 Thanks!

Hi Mark! Great series btw! I just bought an Orient open heart from you guys and can’t wait to wear it! Question... does hacking serve any benefit?

But every time the hacking lever hits the oscillating balance wheel, won't it damage the balance wheel?

Nice job! Interesting video!

Why is hacking so important on an automatic watch, I always picture the "synchronise watches" command alongside a military strike team but an automatic is out so many seconds one way or another the next day so whats the point of synchronising the seconds hand to anything?

Very good video , keep it on !

Swaggiest man alive - one watch per wrist!

Awesome video!

Hi Mark, This is Sam, thanks for great videos, enjoying your videos ever since i started digging in mechanical watches, into building up my own vintage watch collections. Where my watches doesn't support hacking btw. The thing is, As i'd always been real careful all the time when I default the time setting on my watch, trying back-hacking. I'm itching weather hacking would inflict any damage or totally safe for your watch. I'd believed that it's totally okay you using the hacking system, it doesn't harm your timepiece according to an article about this issue. where they say it's just slightly detaching only the second hand from the MVT, while it's operating. But At least Mine seems to be on the same mechanism as the one in your video. Which seems to be letting the balance wheel to a pause. So, can i be not too much worrisome about harming my watch any? Thank you for your reading and your answer in advance. Sam.

Very interesting. Doesn't seem like a very complicated or costly mechanism - I wonder why Seiko left it out of the 7S26 movement on the SKX007/009? Another video perhaps?

Great video.

Good job

Why does the first movement you disassemble (the ETA) look nearly identical to my Chinese $15 pocket watch assembly?

Hi Mark. A noob question. Does constant usage of hacking wears out the balance wheel, causing it to wobble? Since the hacking level is using friction stop?

Could it affect the balance wheel?to much hacking...

Thank you, Mark!

Got a question though ??.. what benefits do you get from stopping the seconds hand ??

nice! another great video. Thanks for showing that!

Great Job Thank you very much !

On my automatic watch, the second hand comes to a stop a few seconds after i pull the crown, but the balance wheel keeps on spinning. Do you know how what the deal is with this? It's a rotary Calibre - R.1004.21

Awesome, thanks!

Always a pleasure to watch your W&L videos ! Plus a wrist check what we need more : thank you m8te for sharing your passion ;)

Hi Marc I have a skx007 and I adjusted the minute hand counter clockwise for just a minute to set the time just right and I noticed the second hand kind of paused for a second. Does that damage the movement in any way if I turn the hands counter clockwise to set the time?

Does anybody have the slightest clue as to why a brand new Seiko with the 4R35 movement doesn't hack seconds when I pull the crown to the second position? Everything else works flawlessly but I can't find an answer anywhere and it's so frustrating.

Great video

But what’s the purpose of it? Is it so the watch doesn’t change minutes while your setting it?

Hey Mark I am curious about something and I just can’t find any info from Google. I have new watch that has a ETA 2824-2 movement yet it does not hack. All other functions work, setting the time and date etc. Is it possible that some early 2824 movements did not have a hacking function?

Have you done an affordable watch video?

pretty cool. very interesting.

I don't really get the fascination with hacking. Unless the watch is super sophisticated/expensive mechanical or quartz based, the accuracy just isn't there for it to matter . The second hand is just for timing short intervals or to indicate the movement is working in my view

Hi Marc I was thinking ! How do you release main spring , could you do a video on this ? Cheers Uk

Lol, my quartz is so cheap, it does not have any "hacking", i never saw a hacking quartz. $2 quartz watch btw, and its keeping time correct since many years..

The real hack is to take a non "hacking" movement and delay the second hand by manipulating the watch when the crown is in the set position. The "hacking" watches simply have an added feature where the second hand is stopped as a feature. This feature was named after the operation that it simulates.

How is this any different from a quartz movement??? In either scenario, when I pull the crown out the second hand stops and when I push back it in the second hand starts.

Thank u

Watching how simple this feature is implemented I wonder even more, why the heck 7S26 lacks this basic feature??

Actually, there are quartz watches without a hacking feature. For instance, many swatch models.

Great video! When will you start selling fully stocked junk drawers.

What is your opinion on new Zenith watch. Maybe a video?

That was awesome

Hey mark , there's no option for shipping to my country called Jordan :( is their a way i can purchase a watch personally from you so you can ship it to me through international shipping? Help me mark D:

Hacking doesn't mean that just the second hand but the balance wheel and therefore the whole watch stops. ;-)

There’s got to be a clearer term than “hacking”. Maybe “settable second hand”? But anyway, how about a video on hand-winding in an automatic, and whether it can damage the movement if done too frequently? Or a round-up of hand-winders only that you sell? Thanks for the vids!