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  1. Vitezi Feb 26, 2019

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    Every now and again something fascinating pops up on Instagram. Here's an Omega ref. 2537 with an external button (at the 8 hour marker) that stops the balance. Has anyone seen one of these before? What would this feature have been used for? I would think the balance stop is useful for synchronizing with other similar watches, similar to a hacking function.
    ::confused2::
    Pictures posted here for posterity:
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  2. M'Bob Feb 26, 2019

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    Another, quite effective one:

    image.jpeg
     
  3. Vercingetorix Spam Risk Feb 26, 2019

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  4. JimInOz Melbourne Australia Feb 26, 2019

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    Made by Omega? I think they would have assigned a specific reference number for the added complication.

    Looks more like a DIY job, and you'd have to be very gentle on the stop button so you didn't break a pivot.

    Interesting though.
     
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  5. Hippocampus Feb 27, 2019

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    They put a video of it working on their Insta account too. It looks a little... coarse but then if it was some sort of prototype then it’s all possible. What’s the book in the pic? Might have more context on the rest of the page...

    I can’t imagine what it would have been used for though either. Either some kind of super janky Chronostop sort of timing mechanism or for synchronization... I know hacking seconds weren’t a standard Omega feature until the cal 10xx series, but surely it was known to exist in a more developed form than basically a brake pad for balance wheel like this
     
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  6. Vitezi Feb 27, 2019

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    This was my first thought - an aftermarket modification, but nicely finished. It doesn't look like a one-off hackjob, so if it were aftermarket, perhaps it was done to several watches for some unknown reason...but then there's the book entry. I have to assume the author did some research to confirm..? An archives extract on this serial might be very interesting.
    Exactly! This approach seems too crude. Has any other manufacturer ever allowed a balance wheel to be directly influenced in this way?
     
  7. Vercingetorix Spam Risk Feb 27, 2019

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    I think most of the common ETA based movements have a hack lever that stops the balance wheel.
    http://blog.watchdoctor.biz/2017/08/27/what-is-a-hacking-mechanism/
     
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  8. dennisthemenace Hey, he asked for it! Feb 27, 2019

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    Don't most vintage hacking movements have some sort of mechanism acting directly on the balance wheel?
     
    Edited Feb 27, 2019
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  9. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Feb 27, 2019

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    This is how the vast majority of hacking mechanisms work - they act directly on the balance.
     
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  10. Hippocampus Feb 27, 2019

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    Learn something new everyday, little surprised how simple they are after looking up how they work... makes me wonder why they weren’t a regular feature sooner than the 70’s, but I guess the average person didn’t find it necessary in those days
     
  11. Vitezi Feb 27, 2019

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    And I'm enlightened too! I was always under the impression a wheel was braked, rather than the balance. Thanks all!
     
  12. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Feb 27, 2019

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    There are some that work that way, but in my experience that is certainly not the norm. I have seen some where a wire sticks up through the dial to stop the hand, or there is a pin located on a wheel that a lever acts on to stop the hand right at a predetermined location (usually 12), or where a lever acts on a train wheel, but most are designed to have a part that contacts the balance.
     
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  13. mac_omega Feb 27, 2019

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    The watch visible in the book was a prototype from Omega with this simple hacking mechanism.

    Will be dealt with in my book coming soon...
     
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  14. Willbur Feb 28, 2019

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    On this Tissot, it's the escape wheel which is stopped.

    sidera10.jpg
     
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  15. jimmyd13 Feb 28, 2019

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    I have a Thomas Russell pocket watch that has a very basic hacking movement. There's a slide on the side of the case which tensions a wire against the balance stem. I'm trying to recall, I think the wire goes around the stem and is pulled tight by a lever which is connected to the slide.

    I just had a quick look through my watch photos folder and I don't appear to have a photo ... if it helps, I can snap one at the weekend.

    It's a very basic complication but it's also very effective.
     
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  16. TDBK Feb 28, 2019

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    If we're talking hacking, 60's era Glycine Airman watches had a hacking mechanism which was actually a wire protruding through the dial to stop the seconds hand at 12.
    [​IMG]
    (From In-Depth: The History of the Glycine Airman)
     
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  17. Tony C. Ωf Jury member Feb 28, 2019

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    The subject watch was recently acquired by a well known dealer (and friend of mine) here in Lisbon. It was indeed a prototype, as Erich suggests (above).
     
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  18. minutenrohr Sep 1, 2023

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    omega 7.JPG

    ...just found this in an old "Klassik Uhren"!
     
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  19. JimInOz Melbourne Australia Sep 1, 2023

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    Posterity didn't last long.
    ;)

    Do you still have the originals?
     
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  20. Vitezi Sep 1, 2023

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    Yes indeed:
    51457484_665306080607073_4827492939971302836_n.jpg
    53201534_392443028241233_1993778793928675371_n.jpg
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    52765746_258724621717464_2203497769645924217_n.jpg