Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

Seiko7A38 at January 25, 2018 at 12:54 PM

Don't ever let anybody try to convince you that the 7A38-7180 SAA055J is a rare variant. Because it would be a 'con'. They're particularly common here in the UK. Here's another example, in typically worn condition, that was listed a couple of days ago, as a 7-day auction with an opening bid of £0.99. Some suspicious bidding activity by a newly created Zero feedback ID has helped to push the current bid price to over £40. Nice to see it comes with the spare adjustment links and the original Seiko presentation box and outer cardboard sleeve. That stock code label on the end of the box indicates that it was originally sold through Argos.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232640978203

That second UK eBay auction for a 7A38-7180 ended late last night, selling for £164 after 34 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232640978203

Ahem. Then there's this mess, which started life as a 7A38-7180, which was listed yesterday evening, by an Austrian seller, as a 5-day auction with an opening bid price of 1 Euro. Obviously the white Tachymeter ring isn't original, though probably a Seiko 7Axx part, I can't quite put my finger on which model it's from. I don't think it's from a 7A38-7190 or 7A38-727x / 7A38-728x variant, because it's too close to the ends of the dial batons. Oh, Yes and it's on a leather strap, fitted with a Seiko buckle, FWIW. Schöne Original - mein Arsch ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282826618611

Sie bieten hier auf eine

SEIKO Alarm - Chronograph Quarz Herren Armbanduhr.

Ref. 7A38-7180

Durchmesser ohne Krone : ca. 37 mm.

Edelstahl Gehäuse mit gedrucktem Edelstahl Boden..

Ararm. Chronograph.

Die Uhr befindet sich in einen gebrauchten Zustand und funktioniert Einwandfrei.

Sehen Sie sich meine anderen Artikeln an !!

The above eBay auction for what once might have been a beautiful (and original) 7A38-7180 ended a few moments ago, selling for 51 Euros after 8 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282826618611

Did I not say that 7A38-7180's were dead common in the UK ? There's even one languishing in this 99p junk job lot ! The ignominy. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222825826837

Mixed ages and condition. Some nice watches including a Seiko 7a38-7180, ladies Rotary, Ingersoll and others. All backs in place. None currently running and may just require a battery so selling as spare and repair only.

The above 7-day UK eBay auction for a junk job lot, which included a non-running well-worn 7A38-7180 ended yesterday afternoon, selling for £54 after 25 bids. So that's 50 Quid for the 7A38-7180 and £4 for the rest of the junk ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222825826837

I really don't know why I bother even mentioning junk like this (twice). That mess of a 7A38-7180 (which is anything but 'schöne'), fitted with the wrong Tachymeter ring and a leather strap, offered by the Austrian eBay seller, which supposedly sold for 51 Euros 10 days ago .... is back again, re-listed yesterday evening. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282846617097

This time around, the Austrian eBay seller's mess of a 7A38-7180 did rather worse, making only 36.03 Euros after 7 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282846617097

Here's another common-or-garden cosmetically challenged 7A38-7180, that was listed at lunchtime today by a UK eBay seller, with a laughably over-optimistic Buy-it-Now price of £175 (or the option to make an offer). This well worn example is not only suffering from excessive wear of the black chrome coating, but someone has seen fit to completely strip what was left of it from the bezel. So it must have been bad.  Note there's no photo of the clasp, so expect that to be pretty much worn through to the stainless, too. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282857863858

A pre-owned vintage Seiko 7A38 Chronograph in used conditions. These models are becoming hard to find. This Seiko 7A38-7180 is working but would benefit from a service.

The UK eBay seller ended the above listing early, about half an hour ago - the error presumably being in the pricing. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282857863858

He re-listed it soon afterwards as a 5-day auction with an opening bid price of £25, which given the watch's cosmetic condition makes a lot more sense.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282863348049

The above UK eBay auction for a well-worn 7A38-7180 ended yesterday evening selling for £82 after 17 bids - less than half the previous Buy-it-Now price.

.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282863348049

You've got to wonder: just how many more times this idiotic Austrian eBay seller is going to relist this mess of a 7A38-7180, before the message sinks in.  It's not 'schöne' (far from it) and nobody in their right mind, wants to pay more than 50 Euros for it. It's back again this evening.  This time he's trying to throw potential bidders a curve ball, by using a different eBay ID: muscariello58 (instead of the previous aleks.25) and has taken a new set of photos - some of which actually show the condition of the watch in a worse light.  But the title and description are exactly the same as before, as is his location (Vienna). So who's he trying to fool ? 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112850936821

This time around it made 64 Euros after 10 bids. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112850936821

Another 7A38-7180 in used, but rather more original condition, was listed yesterday evening by a UK eBay seller, as a 7-day auction, with an opening bid price of £19.99. My only reservations about this particular example would be that the dial appears to have faded quite badly, rendering the gold printing almost illegible in the seller's photos.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202257221102

You are bidding on a vintage Seiko 7a38 chronograph wrist watch. In good used condition with no damage, though has wear and scratching to glass, case and bezel (see photos). Keeps excellent time and is running strong. All hands reset crisply. All original parts. No spare links, though it does fit an 7.5 inch wrist. Please see my other listed watches as I am having a big clear out- too many watches, not enough wrists! Good luck. No reserve.

Another well-worn 7A38-7180 was listed yesterday evening by a UK eBay seller - as 'spares or repair' with an opening bid price of £0.99. Looking at the wear of the black chrome plating on the bezel, at first glance, it appears strikingly similar to another well-worn example which previously appeared in this thread. Indeed this particular watch, case-back serial # 710162 has featured fairly recently in this thread - only there wasn't a decent head on shot of it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263549507297

Vintage Mens / Gents Seiko 7A38 - 7180 Quartz Chronograph Watch Spares or Repair,

Black coating has worn off in places,

Date wheel is not aligned,

Battery tried but didn't work - sold for spares or repair,

See photos for condition

UK postcodes only.

Here's where it previously appeared on eBay in that 'Junk' job lot in February ....

Seiko7A38 at February 13, 2018 at 5:56 AM

The above 7-day UK eBay auction for a junk job lot, which included a non-running well-worn 7A38-7180 ended yesterday afternoon, selling for £54 after 25 bids. So that's 50 Quid for the 7A38-7180 and £4 for the rest of the junk ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222825826837

Here's the only really decent photo of the 7A38-7180 from that 'Junk' job lot listing - showing the same case-back serial # 710162.

The penultimate UK eBay auction for a 7A38-7180 ended a couple of minutes ago, selling for £102 after 10 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202257221102

The 7-day UK eBay auction for that non-running well-worn 7A38-7180 ended yesterday evening, selling for £57.97 after 12 bids - nearly £4 Quid more than the junk job lot it came from ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263549507297

I'm not surprised.  I often awake to a 'what have I done now' moment, and this was one of them. It's all to do with liking a challenge. 

Best one from a job lot was in the US where I spotted a SGP 7A38.  It was so encrusted that A, I paid $9 the lot, and B, the DNA had preserved a near perfect example.  Well, very fair anyway. 

This lightly worn used 7A38-7180, which comes with a full set of box, tags and papers was listed earlier today by a Japanese eBay seller, with an absolutely ridiculous 'pie-in-the-sky' Buy-it-Now price of $961 (US), or the option to make an offer. The BIN asking price, which is as close to the equivalent of approx. 100,000 Japanese Yen as makes no difference, is likely to be the highest price ever seen for a used example of this model in recent memory. 

This eBay seller japanese.shop is the same seller who also listed a 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 earlier today with a Buy-it-Now price of $2436 !  Incidentally, they're also listing 3 similarly ludicrously priced 7T27-7A20 RAF Gen. 2's. Checking the seller's eBay profile, it states: We are a full time eBay Seller who resides in Japan, but tells you little else about them. Obviously they're a dealer. Their current stock in trade of just over 300 watches are 95% Seiko branded and then there's the 50+ Gucci men's wallets they're also listing.

Anyway, back to the watch. It's unusual for a used example, for having very little wear to the vulnerable black chrome coating, other than what's just visible on the edges of a couple of bracelet links and the SQ clasp. However, it has lost some of it's original dull matt finish and taken a light sheen, e.g. on the bezel. Then there's that full set of box, tags manuals, etc., which got me thinking ....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323179271366

It was the seller's last photo, showing the watch with its box and papers, which got me thinking that this was possibly a (very likely) case of Déjà Vu from 9 years ago. Now I may be wrong, but I strongly suspect that it's the very same 7A38-7180 in these old photos, which I right-clicked and saved from the website of Japanese consignment seller Antiwatchman.com, way back in March 2009. 

Cited in this post on the RLT watch forum about a year later:

I'm sure I've mentioned this mint-ish 7A38-7180 on a Japanese watch site before:

http://www.antiwatchman.com/watch.php?NUM=J-3678

Original crazy asking price of ¥89,000 Yen has now been reduced to ¥63,000 (£480+), but it's still taking the ....