Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

Sunday morning beater.  Orient J39725-70 'Panda' dial fitted with 'Feiko' aftermarket 20mm stainless bracelet.

Picked this up (in need of repair) from a job lot of 4 watches listed by a French eBay seller, back in November 2011.

Amazingly, the listing still exists in eBay history, although the single photo has long since disappeared into the ether:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130595833225 

4 montres divers dont 2 chronographe quartz

Chrono fond blanc 4 boutons ,3rond noir intérieur avec aiguille ,marque jour chiffre,bracelet d'origine même marque que la montre marchait mais pile usée,manque 1 têton pour accrocher bracelet sur montre verre rayé poids 110gr marque Orient Watch CO LTD JAPAN water résist 10bar n°Y J39725 -70 CA

IIRC, it needed some work, including a new PCB.  Pretty it ain't - but it's still the only example of this J39 model I've ever seen.

Today I've been going through the box which contains the bulk of my Orient / Racer J39 and Puma Y19 collection. Plan was to try and re-organise things to accomodate a couple of new incomings - fat chance  all 32 slots were already full. So I ended up just checking them over and making various notes. Needless to say, I found a couple with a flat batteries, which I duly changed after lunch.

Can't complain about this one - it was over 5 years ago since I bought it - my original two-tone Puma Y19001-70.

Here's the the third member of this trilogy - the RACER branded equivalent of the above two watches - and my newest incoming. Orient / Racer case-back model # J39710-70. Extricated from the clutches of an uncooperative Romanian seller, thanks to the invaluable assistance of forum member Licu (Adrian), it arrived yesterday. 

Just a Q&D wrist shot for now, I'll take some more photos and write it up in the Racer J39 thread at the weekend. 

Lazy Sunday afternoon 'beater' - a pretty rough one at that.  My 'well loved', if not often worn champagne dialed Orient J39001-70.

A bit of bling for a sunny Bank Holiday Monday. 

My newest incoming non-Seiko 7A38 - another JAZ N8YZ669 two-tone 'Panda', which arrived from the States on Friday last week.

Not quite as received - it came fitted (I use that word advisedly) with a 20mm strap of dubious branding squeezed to fit the 18mm lugs.

Searching through my spare strap drawer, I found something more suitable in the correct 18mm width, which will suffice for now.

Dubious branding…? Come on …it came from the States!  Hollywood.…! 

(Very nice Paul.)

Allow me to add my anti bling…7A38-7270 movement ensconced in a 7A38-706A case. Mounted on a US Military issued strap.

With my predeliction for collecting non-Seiko 7A38's, it may come as a surprise to some to learn that there are still a number of gaps in my Seiko 7A38 collection. One of them had been the two-tone 7A38-7090 SAA036J. I remember seeing the first one on eBay as far back as December 2008, but passed on that and a number of tattier examples since. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I finally bought one. It was listed on eBay by a Romanian seller in the last week of August. I won the auction for the opening bid price of 60 Euros (nobody else bid). It arrived last week. I've just given it a strip down and clean; fitted a new battery, case-back gasket and spring bars. Ideally it needs a replacement bezel and the case and bracelet re-brushing to remove the myriad light scratches. But it'll do as a placeholder in my collection, until a better example comes along.

https://flic.kr/p/M69HST enjoying the 7A38 very much.

Bit of a topical one, given the current asking prices on eBay.  My second string stainless 7A38-7000 SAA007J.

Picked up off eBay France in September 2013, admittedly in need of a little TLC, for a mere 47.50 Euros (£40). 

Excuse the tiny raindrops on the crystal; it started spitting with rain, just as I stepped outside to take the shot.

Back to the non-Seiko branded 7A38's - and what is probably my favourite amongst them (if not this particular example).

Yema Spationaute III Aragatz, model # N80P76 on dark blue ZRC 'Double Jonc' strap.

Another 43mm diameter Yema N8 this morning - this time a model # N80Q16 Flygraf on the original Yema single ribbed strap.

A late in the day post of my Seiko 7A38-7100 from Sept.1984.   

Back to basics: something plain and simple this morning - a stainless 7A38-7289 SAA109J.

I'd built this up as a 'head only' from a salesman's sample case a couple of years ago, but it got left as an unfinished project for want of a bracelet. Then in February, a NOS p/n B1627S bracelet came up on eBay and I finally got round to nailing it together. I'd worn it briefly a couple of times, to check for fit, but don't think I've posted a wrist shot before - not of this particular example, anyway. 

Plain and simple is good…7A38-7069. As Paul has stated before this model is very common here in the Colonies. 

A bit of bling to brighten up an otherwise dull overcast day - Yema N81W53 on original Yema shark strap.

I suppose if I'm to continue collecting these dressy non-Seiko branded 7A38's, I really ought to wear them more often. 

So here's another one.  Orient J39908-70 on original Orient 'mock croc' (cardboard consistency) leather strap.

More non-Seiko bling.  Yema N81W63 - Breguet Classique lookalike. Non-original dark navy blue strap on this one.

Always a tricky one to photograph, because of the bling factor and thick shallow domed crystal (hence slightly out of focus) ....

Loris Azzaro H900 on original Loris Azzaro branded blue shark strap. Just call me an occasional fashion victim. 

Top of the previous page and the bottom of this one. What makes you think this cheap 'beater' is becoming a favourite ?

My Orient J39722-70 BreitBling lookalike on 19mm Meyhofer 'Lanark' strap.