Hacking vs non

I prefer a hacking movement but it's not a deal breaker if it isn't. Often one can just move the hands backwards slightly to stop the movement. If it doesn't, I normally just set the watch ahead just a tad based on the seconds hand.

Bit of an accuracy nut, that's why I chose an Omega

And a chrono that doesn’t hack irony!

I strongly prefer a hacking movement, but backhacking usually works to get very close.

This is just one man's opinion, but there is almost no point worrying about setting an automatic watch with to-the-second accuracy. As even after a few hours it's going to be fast or slow, or variable depending on if the mainspring is fully or only partially wound.

If you need or want to-the-second accuracy, a Multiband 6 Casio is your best bet - then you're always accurate. Like an Oceanus or G-Shock, etc. Or move upmarket to a Grand Seiko 9F movement that only looses a few seconds a year. I use an Oceanus for work as I need that to-the-second accuracy.

Part of the charm of mechanical watches is that they're not accurate. For me, this allows me to relax a little and not worry so much about time. This goes for my Seiko 7S26 or my Selita COSC Chronometer...

In the end, were not really important enough for a few seconds to matter - so why worry about it? 😁

What is hacking vs non-hacking? Genuine question.

Back hacking works.

or

If one of my non hacking watches has stopped I wait until the correct time reference is at the same point as the stopped seconds hand (or 2 seconds before) and start winding. Once the seconds are hacked the hour and minute hands are simple.

Hacking simply means that the movement stops when pulling out the crown.

I am pretty crazy about wanting hacking and accuracy. I would make it through my day fine without it but I do really prefer hacking and watches that lack hacking are less desired for me.

Nope. No hacking mechanical watches in my possession and it saves so much time and worry.

If necessary I can back hack, but honestly if it's within a minute or two that's good enough. If someone asks me the time I usually give it to quarter hours, at best to the closest 5.

Wanting a ST-19 to be accurate is like asking a Chevy Aveo to win Le Mans. With a spec of -10/+40 a day, accuracy isn’t its thing and wanting it to be initially accurate is fine I gather, but as others pointed out, it will likely be off with the first hour.

Hacking means when you pull the crown out to set the time, the second hand stops moving. That allows you to set a watch to the exact second. With a non-hacking movement, the second hand is always moving, so you could be off + or - 30 sec, even when the watch is first set.

I have actually done that on a few movements where back-hacking doesn't work, but the watch has to be fully stopped for that method.

It does save time when you don't have wait for the actual time to hit an exact minute to restart the movement, so in that, you are very correct. Setting my PAM always goes faster.

I prefer hacking but will excuse its absence on some watches. It depends

I would say more often than not the movement will hack. I have a bunch from AliExpress and most all do.

Don’t really care, no coordinated military operations for me. If I would need the exact time for some reason I’d check my phone (gasp!)

Sure, that's fine for setting the general time, but for people who want to set the time exactly to NIST or official atomic clock time, what you're proposing won't work for them.

Let's say you have a non-hacking movement and it's running. You look at your watch and it says 2:30:30 (two-thirty and thirty seconds). You then quickly look at your atomic clock to see what time it actually is and it says 2:31:00, so your watch is 30 seconds off actual time. There's no way to line up the seconds, since your movement is non-hacking and therefore running constantly. You'll be 30 seconds off, with no way to line up YOUR seconds with the ACTUAL seconds.

For anyone with a non-hacking movement...

With some movements (like the ubiquitous Seiko 7S26) you can wind the hands just past the current time, wait for the second hand to get to 12 and slowly wind the hands back. The backwards winding will stop the second hand, then set the correct time and release when it's time to start.

https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?188936-Setting-a-non-hacking-watch

I don't care about hacking at all. If it's mechanical it'll be out after 24 hours anyway.

If it doesn’t hack it’s not a deal breaker but I do prefer hacking.

The hacking is nice, but the running second hand doesn't bother me as I try to account for it. I tend to normally set all my watches about 1-2 mins fast, even digital.

I do much prefer a hacking movement. However I recently bought a NOS seiko 5 that doesn’t hack, just because the watch is so cool. Can’t say it doesn’t bug me a little, though, that I can’t set it exactly.

I set my Omega SMP 300 three months ago to the second. I have since lost three seconds. The watch is amazing.

Much prefer a hacking watch. But I’ve a few non hackers. I’ve gotten fairly adept at getting them to start running (either by winding or doing the seiko shuffle running) as close to the second as possible then setting the time. I’m much more forgiving on chronographs since the running seconds is so small anyways.

Thanks that explains it better 👏🏾🤌🏾👊🏽

I only have one watch that doesn't hack, and all of the watches on my to-buy list hack too. I don't really mind that the my Vario 1918 Pilot isn't set to the second, but because I can do it with the rest, I do.

If your that bothered about 5 seconds in a day, buy a watch linked to the atomic clock. Like a G shock mudmaster 2000

Hacking for me. Just received my first watch with a hacking movement the other day. NH-35A.