Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

Good to see it is still with you :-)

Hello to everyone, I guess I am for now the newest addition to this forum, and to the crowd of Seiko-lovers. Hope to get the chance to learn a lot from you guys, and to increase my only-one-piece collection of Seiko time pieces.

Garacs1

Hi Seiko lovers,

I am happy to join this forum, 

Cheers Martin.

Welcome aboard, Martin. 

Hi, my name is Rob.  I landed here while searching for parts for a 7A38-7069.  I may not have found my parts, but I did stumble upon a wonderful resource.  My particular watch was a graduation present from my parents back in '87.  Wonderful watch, worn when it shouldn't have been to the point that a new crystal had to be installed.  But, I was not to enjoy my watch for much longer after that.  The ten o'clock pusher decided it no longer wanted to be part of the watch and promptly exited the scene. Jeweler at the time, same one that had been "cleaning" it for me for several years said he would sent it in to Seiko to have an estimate of repair made.  Well, long story short, I finally removed this watch from the jewelry box it had been in and decided it was time to make it right.  After another visit to another Seiko dealer and let down, I have concluded that there would be no loss if I took matters into my own hands.  This leads me here.  Just have been browsing for a bit, and believe that the knowledge here will help me reach my goal of having this watch repaired.  Sorry for the long intro, but I tend to ramble.  

No apologies needed for the length of your intro' Rob - looks fine to me.  Welcome aboard. 

You've come to the right place for assistance and we'll try to help you get your watch sorted (by your own efforts, naturally). 

Just realised I haven't introduced myself yet. 

 My name is obvious. Yes, I am French indeed, although I have been living in the UK since 1991. So you could argue that I have become semi-civilised by now. 

Collector ? Nope. Not in the sense that I have scores and scores of watches. I'm more in the camp of people who have a few watches that are worn, not stored in boxes. However, I have about 20 watches, so for some people, that would be classed as being a collector. 

I do like Seiko watches, probably because a Seiko was my first "proper" quality watch as a child, followed by a great Tissot at 13, then a beautiful Omega at 18 (still have all of them). So Seiko is the brand most represented in my small collection, but there are others. Besides a Tissot Visodate and a PR516, there is an Omega Speedmaster, Breitling Navitimer and an older Vacheron from the 40's that is a family heirloom.  Still, Seiko ( and a few Lassale, mostly inherited from my dad apart from the 5T52) is the brand most present. I have several 7T series, one 7A28. And with the exception of my Hamilton limited edition Khaki Aviator, Seikos are what I wear the most.

One thing for sure, price is not my main consideration. I am as happy with a cheap watch as I can be with something more expensive. For example, my Orient Interlagos can be considered cheap, but I really like it. I'll have to do a feature on it as they are rare and only sold in Brazil.

Besides the 7T59 which will be arriving soon from Italy, the watch I have been saving for is the Ananta SPB015. If money was my own, it would be here already, but as many of you know so well, there are expenses that come first, like kids, mortgage, cars... I am looking forward to the day I can be more generous with my spending on watches.

Looking forward, I would like to learn about maintenance/repair a bit more. Nothing complicated, but cleaning a watch, changing its glass. etc. Right now, I'm a complete noob. Hopefully, I will acquire the knowledge I need to have fun. 

Later on the forum,

François

(enfin) sur notre petit forum, François (officially, that is). 

I remember when you first registered you wrote some humorous comment on your profile (since removed). Something about  IIRC.

That's a fairly eclectic watch collection you've got there. 

But there's a couple of things missing. No Seiko 7A38.  No Yema. Very easily solved - you need a Yema Spationaute III. 

Apologies, François - my bad. Looks like I had memory failure. It was another new French member, who left the comment on my profile:

Yep, not me you were thinking of. Yema, I guess that growing up regarding the brand as being not very good, I have never looked into them as such. Yes, the Spationaute is decent, but it doesn't scream "buy me" either.

You're right, no 7A38 yet. The main reason being (and I am going to spread heresy now) that they aren't many models of 7A28 and 7A38 which I find desirable in terms of style. It's only the quality of the movement that gives them redeeming features in my eyes. Still, there will be a 7A38 one day, I'm sure.

Interesting statement, Francois. So what is it exactly that appeals to you about the 7T59 Masterpiece ?  Because - and as already discussed at some length on this forum (and elsewhere), the 7Txx movements are generally considered to be inferior to the 7Axx's. 

I'm not arguing about movements and I'm quite happy to concede on the quality of 7A against 7T. At the end  of the day, my favourite Seikos are automatic anyway (Grand Seiko, Credor...)! There are more 7Ts I like in terms of design than 7As, that's all.

The 7As are a tad too small, too thin, whilst later 7Ts tend to be bigger. I'm more into either big and chunky, like my Hamilton with a Valjoux 7753, seating at 44mm without the crown and 13mm thick, or ultra thin, like some older Lassale or my Longines La Grande Classique. My wrist is 20cm or 8" and the 36mm case looks a bit small on me.

As for the Masterpiece 1992, I think it's more the "buying something I wanted at the time and never bought but now I can" syndrome.

I may well decide to pass it on, depending on how I feel once it's on my wrist. 

Still, there are 7A38s I like, like the black and yellow one you're selling, or the 7A28 Yacht Master. 

Hi Kit.  aboard.

Spotting Franken 7Axx's (or watches that aren't quite how they should be, in terms of incorrect replacement bracelets) isn't that difficult - we have a couple of long-running topics in the eBay section that pretty much cover them. If I happen to miss any (which isn't often), one of the other eagle- eyed members is usually quick to point them out. If there's a 7Axx you're thinking about buying, or bidding on and not sure of (or can't seem to find anything about it) - ask the question yourself, as Woody did with the Lesterplant 7A38, recently.

The other pitfall to watch out for is speculative over-pricing by eBay dealers, where they ask ridiculous pie-in-the-sky high Buy-it-Now prices for only average examples, in the hope that some 'newb' will be tempted to fall for them. 'Mad Martina' martinachertok being the current 'classic' exponent. But there are others who aren't so blatantly obvious. Speaking from personal experience, there's nothing worse than being disappointed / feeling embarrassed after buying your first 7Axx, so we try to help newb's avoid the worst mistakes.

There is indeed one such specific thread in the Members Lounge section - the topic title is pretty much self explanatory. 

PS - I do need to add a couple of new names to to it, but I guess you'll be able to figure those out for yourself. 

hi, i'm agus from indonesia, prior to this i collect seiko diver and after a long period of reading and browsing the internet i now am in a process to acquire a couple of 7A28-7040, one from the bay (earlier model, with no Sports 100m text) and one from a local fellow Seikoholics

Hi

Just joined the happy family with a 7A38-7029A5. It needs a band, crystal and second hand. but the more I see the more they grow on me. I live in the middle of the Aussie Bush in Orange, with the Wife and the 3 Kinderfocken.

But I am hoping to learn about these fascinating watches....

Welcome aboard, Dan. 

BTW - we tend to refer to them on here as 7A38-7029 and / or by the sales code SAA013J (to differentiate between model variants).

The [A5] thing is kind of academic. I think I've written something about the meaning of the various case-back stampings somewhere.

Here you go. Check out the links in my last post in this thread:

http://www.seiko7a38.com/apps/forums/topics/show/7437695-7axx-model-number-question-j-suffix-