Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

Thought this might make a light-hearted little topic ....

Simply because it seems some eBay sellers have got absolutely NO CLUE how to photograph watches for their auction listings. 

Here's a few from my archive folders, to get the ball rolling:

7A38-6060 on eBay in October 2006 - spotted by Aaron ('Cobrajet25' on SCWF):

7A38-7000 Gold-Tone (Yes, really) on eBay in Germany in March 2010:

7A38-728A Two-Tone (White Roman numeral dial) on eBay in the UK in July 2009:

I bought it for a mere £30.50 - ahh, the Good Old Days  - and it turned out be almost a 'minter'.

This is pretty obviously a stainless 7A38-7270 SAA093J, which most of us are familiar with, listed on eBay in the UK in October 2009:

I actually bought this one too, but it had significant issues - so I returned it to the seller for a full refund. 

Unless you knew what you were looking for, this is a JAZ N8YZ63, which I picked up on eBay in the States for $20, in March last year:

This next photo was a little bit clearer  ....

This is my Orient J39909-80, which I found on eBay Italy in April, 2011 - photographed upside down. It took me a while to figure out !

I think the prize has got to go to Dan ('Northdock' on SCWF) for spotting this though - a 7A48-5010 on eBay in January this year:

See: http://www.thewatchsite.com/index.php?topic=28101.0

He picked it up for a mere $10 - 'Lunch Money' as he called it.

O.K., I know what I wrote in the Jean Lassale Thalassa 'missing 7Axx' - that I wouldn't tear 74Bricklin's eBay listing to pieces. 

http://www.seiko7a38.com/apps/forums/topics/show/7614141-jean-lassale-thalassa-quartz-chronograph-the-missing-7axx

I'm sure we could have hours of fun tearing his eBay listing description to pieces. But that's not my aim, on this particular occasion. 

But this guy really does deserve a special award. 

After re-listing the watch umpteen times with the same two smallish slightly-out-of-focus photos:

Here's the last re-listing (still using the original photos) I could find: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120931252231

Note the statement included in his old listing description (since 6th April):

I have recently purchased a digital camera which I am expecting delivery any day now. 

He's finally edited his latest current listing yesterday and uploaded seven new photos - 1600x1200 and about 500KB each. 

Bigger isn't always necessarily better, it seems. 

See: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120942839704 .... and remember - he's expecting to sell  this watch for $1500+ with these photos. 

Possibly not the worst, by some margin, but still pretty diabolical photos given the camera / phone technology available today ....

These two were both fairly recent listings on eBay Germany:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330854518868

SEIKO Chronograph Sports 150 HAU VINTAGE Herrenarmbanduhr

Although one can barely discern the dial markings, I suspect this was rather a nice example of the stainless (not titanium) 7A38-7130. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200877495941

Seiko Quartz Chronograph Uhr Tachymeter gebraucht silber Wasserdicht gestempelt

This one is more obviously a stainless 7A38-7270 - and although I've got a few of these already, I simply couldn't resist taking a 'fuzzy photo' gamble on this for the hell of it. It arrived today. The photos don't do it justice. It's far to good for the fate I had planned for it. 

I'm sure most of us must have seen this listing for a 7A48 (presumably a -7000) on eBay Germany, which just ended moments ago.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190794358838

SEIKO CHRONOGRAPH SPORTS 100 MIT MONDPHASE DEFEKT

SEIKO CHONOGRAPH CAL.7a48 SPORTS100 MIT lunar CALENDAR DEFEKT! MIT BESCHREIBUNG OHNE OVP!

The photos were pretty diabolical, but the Q&A's at the bottom were even funnier. 

Q: Gibt es bessere Bilder??? Gibte eine genauere Angabe zum Defekt??

A: Hallo meine Kamera ist defekt! Die Uhr ist in einem guten Zustand lediglich die Krone ist lose aber vorhanden, das ist der Defekt!

Despite receiving 284 views, bidding ended @ only 34.84 Euros after 14 bids. Me, I'd put it down to the seller's total incompetence, 

I was going to have a bid on this but an extended sauna session put paid to that 

Sometimes you just instinctively know that a fuzzy photo gamble is going to pay handsomely. 

The Hermes courier just delivered this mint-ish 7A38-704C a few minutes ago. Initial impressions are shall we say very favourable. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Seiku-triple-calender-moon-phaze-quartz-w-watch-chrono-/171408580150

Look at this Seiku ;-)

Some sort of 7A48, I'd say.

Certainly not a "triple date"...

Normally, I'd post a link (and the listing photos) of any Yema N8 that I'd spotted on eBay (or LeBonCoin) in the relevant thread.

Indeed, there's quite a few of these quirky Yema N80P896 Psueudo Plongeurs with white dials mentioned throughout it.

But the 4 photos included in this current US eBay listing are so bad, that unless you knew what you were looking at ....

Well see for yourself ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161994235824

ALL DIALS FULLY WORKING

HAS BEEN TESTED BY A REPUTABLE JEWELER 

NOT ORIGINAL WATCH BAND 

From smoke free home

Date Stamp on camera not working---picture taken 3/1/16

Please check my feedback and bid w/ confidence.

Quite incredible in this day and age. The vague listing title and poor description certainly won't help, nor inspire confidence.