Hello all

A question about when Omega started to make hacking movements (when the second hand stops when adjusting the time). When I first handled a vintage Omega (an early 50s Seamaster) I noticed the seconds hand didn’t stop when adjusting the time. I have a modern Speedy date (based on the Valjoux 7750 movement) where the seconds hand stops whenever adjusting the time.

At first I thought this was due to an issue with the cannon pinion, but after a little research I realised many vintage watches simply don’t have this functionality. Now I have a lovely 2849 Seamaster from 1959 (503 cal) running like a charm and just serviced, and it too doesn’t ‘hack’ when setting the time.

So, for curiosity’s sake, when did they start adding this feature, and how can one differentiate between a worn movement and one which simply doesn’t have that feature?

 

I believe that was introduced with the 10xx calibers starting from cal 1010, which would’ve been early 70s.

You can always check your movement stats on Ranfft (if you google “Omega xxx”, xxx being the caliber number, it’ll show up as one of the first results). There, it’ll tell you if the movement had a hack feature or not.

 

Don’t forget that the 1861-based Speedmaster Pros also don’t hack, and these were produced up until a couple of years ago.

 

Thanks both for your replies.

 

That is interesting to know about vintage watches. I have only owned a few and they had the hacking feature.

 

It’s not half as painful as the early calendars without any quick- or semi-quickset…

 

The prior 1000 series were the first that I am aware of.

 

@Archer I have noticed that if you turn the hands counterclockwise on the 1861 it will keep the second hand from progressing, allowing a manual hack. My Rolex Date 1500 was the same way. Will this cause any damage to the movement?

 

No. Just don’t let the watch run backwards.

 

<interested>

why not?

 

Well, if you look at the geometry of the escape wheel and pallet fork stones, it's pretty obvious they were not really designed to ruin that way. When you force it to happen, the jewels can be chipped at the worst, and oil can be spread where it doesn't belong at the least.

 

Sorry, which calibers prior to the 1000s do you mean? Not saying I doubt that statement, don’t get me wrong, just curious here.

 

Not prior to.

The prior 1000 series, so 1002 for example.

 

Ah, got you. Makes sense.

 

Interesting. I assume you don’t mean turn the hour/minute hands backwards when setting, as i always thought that this was ok.
How do you get a watch to “run”backwards?