Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

Seiko7A38 at February 8, 2020 at 8:46 AM

This almost NOS 7A38-6050, fitted with its original Seiko p/n GK54A perforated leather strap, was listed on Yahoo Japan earlier today as a 4-day auction with an opening bid price of only 1 Yen and let's say not described in the most glowing terms. It comes supplied with the wrong Japanese instruction leaflet (for a 7A48). But the warranty booklet appears to be correct. The watch may not actually have been purchased until 1998, but as shown by its 54xxxx serial number, it was manufactured in April 1985, the first month of only a 2-month production run.

http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n400820871

The above 4-day Yahoo Japan auction for an almost NOS JDM 7A38-6050 ended earlier this morning, about an hour ago; the finishing time having been automatically extended by 5 minutes due to late placed bids. It sold for a strong ¥70,000 Yen after 42 bids, equivalent to approx. $636.70 USD / £490.35 GBP.

http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n400820871

In case readers hadn't already guessed, I should confess - I was the winning bidder of that Yahoo Japan auction for an almost NOS 7A38-6050. No, I really didn't need another one, because I already have a mint example (s/n # 0001) in my collection.

I wanted this for the sake of the original Seiko p/n GK54A leather strap which was fitted. That aspect of the watch turned out to be something of a disappointment - one I should have anticipated.

It arrived earlier this week. In most respects, it's almost perfectly mint, with only one microscopic mark on the bezel inlay and none of the usual fading of the minute ring marks and bright red dial printing. I fitted a new battery and it immediately sprang into life, with full functionality.

Normally I would announce such a significant new arrival by triumphantly posting a wrist shot in the WRUW thread. Well, there ain't gonna be one this time - not in the watch's current form. One thing I have learned about Yahoo Japan auctions, is that sellers' descriptions are generally very honest, to the point of being brutally critical - hence many otherwise perfectly presentable watches are often described as 'Junk'.

In hindsight, I should have heeded the warning in the seller's description:

The belt needs to be replaced with tatters due to aging.

To describe it as 'in tatters' is something of an exaggeration, but it most certainly is starting to delaminate / disintegrate. When I unscrewed the case-back, to replace the battery, I folded the strap back very carefully. Despite that, there were more cracks opening up and bits of perished leather flaking off.

So I'm in two minds as to how to proceed. Ironically, I still have that Meyhofer 'Veteli' (20mm lug width) silicone strap, sat in my spare strap drawer, which I tried briefly on my previous example, 5 years ago - and rejected, dismissing it as being 'too thin'.

Part of me says keep this one exactly as it is - completely original. But as it's unsafe to wear on the original strap (it's as much as I dare do to even unfold it), means that it's destined to remain a 'safe queen'. 

I've had other distractions over the last fortnight, but that disintegrating leather strap was still on my mind - and bugging me. So rather than risk damaging it further, even by careful handling, I decided to remove it and pack it away safely, to preserve it for posterity. Thankfully I managed to remove it without too many more bits flaking off.

So now I needed to find a replacement strap. I searched all the usual watch strap supplier's sites, but couldn't find anything vaguely like the Seiko p/n GK54A. Hence I decided to revisit what had originally been my 'first choice', when I was looking for a strap for my previous 7A38-6050 'head only' 5 years ago. When I wrote this ....

My original 'first choice' of silicone strap - the Meyhofer turned out to be something of a disappointment.

Not only was it too thin (4.00mm), but the 'perforations' shown in WatchBandCentre's photo turned out to be dummy indentations.

.... I got a couple of things wrong.  I opined it was 'too thin' (at 4.00mm), because it was slightly thinner than the alternative Hadley Roma silicone strap which I chose to fit instead. In fact, the original Seiko p/n GK54A leather strap is much thinner at slightly under 3.00mm ! As I now know, its perforations are also effectively dummy, with the very thin punched leather glued to a solid core. What I should correctly have written, in dismissing it, at the time, was that it was too narrow.

I guess I'd been conned by the image on WatchBandCentre's website:

http://www.watch-band-center.com/Meyhofer-watch-strap-Veteli-20mm.html

That is actually a photo of the 22mm version of the strap - not the narrower 20mm.

Apart from that 2mm difference in width, the narrower version of the strap also has one less row of 'perforations' - hence the real reason for my disappointment in its appearance. Reminds me of that Tetley Teabags advert from 1985.  The answer of course was to buy the 22mm version of the strap and notch it to fit the 20mm lug width. Problem was, WatchBandCentre were now out of stock. Fortunately I found exactly the same strap in 22mm, being sold by UKWatchStrap as Fluco branded.

Here's the 20mm Meyhofer and 22mm Fluco side-by-side:

Notching that silicone strap, taking 1mm off each side, should have been a 2-minute job. Instead, it turned into a bloodbath. I wanted to get a nice clean cut, so I fitted a new scalpel blade to my Swann Morton modeller's knife, in doing so, fumbled it and stabbed my thumb, making a neat incision in the tip of it, which bled like a stuck pig for over an hour. Hence the delay in between my two posts.

Anyway, here it is duly notched and fitted. Surprising the difference that extra 2 mm width makes. I'm quite pleased with it - if a little sore.

Here's a different wrist shot to the one I posted in the WRUW thread earlier this morning, showing more of the strap.

Whereas I am quite pleased with this second silicone substitute strap, I've continued searching for an alternative that might closer resemble the original Seiko p/n GK54A perforated leather strap. I think I may have found something at last - a substitute strap fitted by another 7A38-6050 owner.

Stuck at home, self-isolating, in obeyance of the COVID-19 'Lockdown' rules and in moments of boredom, over the last couple of days, I've resorted, in desperation to browsing Instagram. I came across two sets of photos posted on pickuki.com by Instagrammer power90801 - a California based collector named Robert Lambert.

Whereas it's only 20mm wide (same as the lug opening) rather than approx 22.5mm (the width of the watch case) and has black stitching, rather than my preferred red (the original Seiko p/n GK54A has no stitching), this strap more closely follows the ethos of the original Seiko strap. For that reason, I must admit to being rather taken by it. So, much as I dislike abhor Soshul Meedya, I finally relented and signed up to Instagram this afternoon - for one sole purpose: so that I could send a message to @power90801, asking him where he'd got the strap from (or its manufacturer). Robert kindly replied a matter of minutes later. 

It's an obsolete Hadley Roma strap, their p/n MS845 (assuming it was in the correct original packaging) that he bought off eBay last year.

This 7A38-6050, fitted with a grey urethane dive strap, was listed on Yahoo Japan yesterday, as a 6-day auction, with an opening bid price of 1 Yen. It's in generally average used condition, with the usual rubbing wear to the black chrome plated bezel thumbgrips, with a badly scuffed crystal. By this morning, the bidding had reached 10,000 Yen or so.

http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s769915542

The following additional strips of photos are embedded in the description:

Google translates the title and formatted Japanese description as follows:

[M4984s] Rare SEIKO Seiko 7A38-6050 Chronograph Quartz Black Battery replaced 1980s / Watch Rotating bezel Inspection: Speedmaster

The above Yahoo Japan 6-day auction for a 7A38-6050, fitted with a grey urethane 'Dive' strap, ended a few moments ago, selling for ¥54,880 Yen after 32 bids, equivalent to $521.94 USD / £409.38 GBP.

http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s769915542

It's uncanny how many watches sold on eBay and elsewhere subsequently rock up on Instagram - as did that 7A38-6050 which sold on Yahoo Japan just over a month ago. It was posted yesterday evening by user seikotimewarps (a.k.a. JA Turno). Although the previous grey urethane dive strap has been replaced with a quick release two-stitch 'rally' leather strap, from the badly scuffed crystal, it's obviously the same watch - confirmed by the case-back serial # 540155 in the last photo.

In his post, he wrote: I could use help on finding a correct NOS crystal.

Here's what I wrote in reply:

According to Seiko’s database, the Seiko p/n for the 7A38-6050 crystal is 300WF2HK01. The 7A38-6060 and 7A38-6070 use p/n 300WF2FK01 (one letter different F versus H). To be honest, I’ve never popped the crystals out of either of my 7A38-6050’s to measure or compare them with those used in the 7A38-6060 and -6070 and have no intention of disturbing them. However, best one can tell, they do appear to be very similar from the outside. Both are 30mm diameter double domed with a very small polished bevel edge. The F2FK01 measures 3.5mm thick at the edge. I suspect that’s where the difference may lie.

Something you may have not realized about these crystals is they’re not actually mineral glass, but a very hard acrylic plastic, similar to Hesalite – the same material is used in the crystals of the Yema Spationaute III and N8 Flygraf. If you’re unable to source the correct original Seiko crystal, you could attempt to sand out those scratches and re-polish the crystal. Alternatively there are other possible generic mineral glass replacements available. I used a Cousins p/n DF3MMCMH300 in my first 7A38-6060 beater. Only disadvantage with fitting this comparatively cheap crystal is that it has a flat bottom, instead of being concave, so can cause some distortion at shallow viewing angles.

This JDM 7A38-6050 in reasonably decent cosmetic condition, fitted with a leather strap, was listed on Yahoo Japan earlier today by a 'Store' seller, as a 4-day auction with an opening bid price of 20,000 Yen (subject to 10% Japanese Sales Tax).

http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g478898251

Google translates the seller's Japanese description as follows:

● SEIKO Seiko Speedmaster Watch Maximum arm circumference (approx.) 20 cm 7A38-6050 Operation OK (used) 

Accessories: None. 

Condition: Date of purchase is unknown. 

As of 12/15, the operation is OK without running out of battery, but if the battery runs out when you make a successful bid, please replace the battery by yourself.

There are small scratches due to use. 

Please tender after it acknowledges it.

You can also hand it over to the store. It is Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. 

Please contact us before notifying the shipping fee for specifying the delivery time etc.

The above 4-day Yahoo Japan auction for a JDM 7A38-6050 ended a few moments ago, refreshingly for a change on schedule, after 17 bids, selling for ¥70,500 Yen equivalent to approx. $682.27 USD / £504.56 GBP. Which I have to say, makes me feel a lot better about the price I paid for my second NOS example in February. 

http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g478898251