Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

New watch    from eBay.   Seiko 7A28-6010. Described by "Vintagewatchhunter" as only 1/10 hand working.  That was a five minute job and now all work perfectly   It came with the original Seiko band that was falling apart.. No signs of wear on case or back, although the inner plastic chapter ring may be a bit faded. 

7a38-7029

Some Big watch seller (900 watches) on eBay last week was asking $ 149.00 or best offer for this 7A38-7280.   I offered $ 115.00 and 2 days later he accepted my offer   It had the small clasp fitting a 6.5 inch wrist. I replaced it with the longer clasp and now it fits loose with three extra adjustments.    Nice watch!           

Did I really need yet another Yema Spationaute III Aragatz - let alone another NOS example.  Probably not - but I bought one anyway.  It's 'cos I love them, I guess.  This one arrived late this morning. 

It's a bright sunny afternoon in England (but bitterly cold outside) - causing the usual problems with reflections off the domed crystal. So here's another different angle (same as I did last week). 

Just quickly trying on a stainless 7A38-7270 SAA093J, belonging to a UK eBay seller, which I'd done a bit of fettling on yesterday. In case you hadn't noticed, it's currently up for sale in the Members Trading Area.

7A28-7040 for me today

Here's a very Q&D (very quick and literally dirty) 'as received' shot of my newest incoming Jean Lassale Thalassa 7A74-018, which I just picked up from the Fedex depot earlier this morning. I had to drive 5 miles through the snow, on mostly ungritted roads to collect it, because their drivers weren't making any deliveries today, due to the 'adverse weather conditions'. Pussies !  I dunno - a couple of inches of snow and this country comes to a standstill ! 

I won it last Thursday evening in a LiveAuctioneers online auction, run by Hampton Estate Auctions (based in Lahaska, PA, USA). My winning bid was $375, which is comparatively cheap for a Jean Lassale Thalassa, but then you've got to factor in all the additional costs. It was the first time I'd ever actually bid 'live' on one of these auctions and although I slightly exceeded my original planned maximum bid in the heat of the moment, as you do - it was an interesting experience. I'll write the full story up when I know the total costs.

The watch isn't in too bad a condition. Everything works as it should. It's generally grubby and will benefit from a good 'spa treatment' in due course. The 18K gold bezel has the usual light scratches on the top surface, but they should buff out fairly easily. The lizard strap fitted isn't original: it's a Hadley Roma - and thankfully came with the original Jean Lassale deployant buckle. It suits the watch pretty well, but after adjusting the buckle onto the last hole, it's still a bit too tight for me.  I'm already looking for something (of the same width - 22mm tapering to 16mm, but slightly longer) to replace it. I know what I want too - black patent alligator, to match the gloss black dial. Just a matter of identifying a suitable strap ....

7A28-7050 for me today.

7A38-7030, bought from a Yahoo Japan auction to which I was pointed by this forum; thanks guys.

A Q&D 'as received' shot of my newest incoming J39 - a RACER J39024-50 which the postman delivered at lunchtime today. It's supposedly 'NOS', but like so many of these sadly neglected unsold watches, it's suffered from careless handling and storage, resulting in a number of light scratches on the bezel. That said, it's in a lot better condition than my previous 'beater' example. 

Here's a shot of my other recently acquired 'NOS' J39 - the BreitBling-esque RACER J39027-70, which arrived earlier this week. Still needs a bit of titivating (hence the 30 minute sub-dial hand stuck on '18'). 

Yema Spationaute III Aragatz (my most recent NOS again) this morning. 

Yeah, boring I know.  But you can always post something different. 

Yema N8 Flygraf this morning. An oldie but a goodie: second one I ever bought - recognisable (to me) by that tiny bit of matt black paint missing from the outer compass scale, between the 70 and 80 degree marks.

Got this 7A38-7290 SAA095J on this afternoon. You'll see why presently. 

Thanks to Barrie and Paul, I am now the happy owner of a 7A28-7270. 

This is my first Seiko watch.

Really surprised by the good condition of the watch, great work Paul !

Wearing my stainless 7A38-7020 SAA009J 'beater' again today. 

My favourite 7Axx, 7A28-7040.

Wearing a 'beater' stainless 7A38-7000 SAA007J this morning.

First time on the wrist this afternoon for my latest, fairly recently acquired Yema N8 Flygraf. This one turned out to be a little more problematic than I'd originally anticipated, not least of all finding a decent replacement strap for it. For want of anything better, for the time being, it's on a black ZRC Veau Nautic 'double jonc' 22mm strap, fitted with a Yema wire loop buckle.

One last wrist shot of my 7A38-7290. Time to move it on and start looking for watches with less “patina”