Please explain "hacking"

[blackrhino12]

The more I'm reading about watches the more I see this term?

[scottschoe]

The seconds hand stops when you pull the crown out.

[davidwatts]

exactly - makes setting the time accurately easy.

[mike]

Hacking was/is used to denote the ability of the movement to freeze the seconds hand when the crown is pulled completely out in order to sync the hands.
It was a military term. It is possible to "hack" most watches without this feature by applying slight back pressure to the crown freezing the seconds hand.

[blackrhino12]

Thank You all!
Or as we say "Thank ya'll"

[areyes926]

I thought all along it is when one is coughing hard

[nsolga]

tearing up the golf course

[Road Warrior]

Originally Posted by nsolga

tearing up the golf course

x2......................that's my definition of hacking

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by mike

Hacking was/is used to denote the ability of the movement to freeze the seconds hand when the crown is pulled completely out in order to sync the hands.
It was a military term. It is possible to "hack" most watches without this feature by applying slight back pressure to the crown freezing the seconds hand.

Excellent explanation!

As a side note, interestingly the ONLY Rolex watch after 1988 that did not have hacking seconds was the "Zenith" Daytona since the original Zenith El Primero movt. also does not have this feature. Although Rolex chose to slow the speed of the EP movt. down from 36,000 a/H (5 Hz) to 28,800 a/H (4 Hz) in order to prevent excessive wear to the movt., Rolex did for some reason not alter the non hacking second's to a hacking one.