Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

This well-worn Yema N8 Flygraf, fitted with a NATO strap, was listed earlier this evening by a French eBay seller, as a 7-day auction, with an opening bid price of 36.50 Euros. I'm not sure whether this example has featured in this thread before, but quite frankly, I simply can't be arsed to go back through the preceding pages to check. Let's just say it looks familiar. One thing I am certain of is that the carbon look Yema box it's supplied with is a very recent addition (not period).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253627125044

Montre Yema

Model Flygraf chronograph

Guichet date Et jour

Quartz 100m

Bracelet type NATO

N 1-927 paris

Couronne et fond vissé

Model des Année 80-90

Dimension 44mm hors couronne

Montre bon état avec les mini rayure sur verre.

This dressy Yema N81W53 was listed in the early hours of this morning by an Australian eBay seller, as a 3-day auction, with an opening bid price of $125Au. It's fitted with a non-original Yema branded strap, but one that matches rather nicely. The watch head appears to be in decent cosmetic condition, with minimal plating wear, but unfortunately, as all too frequently happens, the case-back is marred by the usual slipped tool marks. The Australian eBay seller intel54 is a member of this forum - 'Steve7A' (also a.k.a. eBay ID stevenkazza_9).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323263126056

Vintage Yema "Paris" N81W53 Quartz Analogue Chronograph watch made in France using the Seiko 7A38 15 jewel movement(worlds first quartz analogue movement) , fwiw Seiko once owned Yema ,rebranded Shimauchi V906 for the Yema brand watches . Overall in good condition,with everything functioning as it should. Some small visible scratches around the center of the watch face,see photos. Comes with Yema box, not original, but will keep it safe, also a genuine leather Yema replacement band vintage to the era. Overall a very clean and lightly worn watch, the buttons function like that of a new watch. Watch face measures 38mm. not including the pushers/ crown.

Free postage within Australia only, all international parcels sent by Express post with signature. Thanks for looking.

I do not post to these countries - Canada,Romania,Brazil, Africa, Germany,Italy

Sometimes, when running my worldwide searches on eBay, I'll turn up the odd poorly titled listing for a Yema N7 or N8. A favourite is 'Montre ancienne Yema' (old Yema watch) - or just Montre Yema. This recent listing for a N81W63 by a French eBay seller falls short of even that. Given the over-optimistic opening bid price of 175 Euros and vague listing title, I suspect it'll hang around unsold for a while.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273218189214

Très belle Montre Yéma à quartz

num 1349 Paris

diam du verre 30 mm

diam total 39 mm

la pile sera remplacer.

The Australian eBay seller's Yema N81W53 failed to attract any bids first time around. Yesterday, he re-listed it as a Buy-it-Now for the same price ($125Au), but with the option to make an offer. It sold earlier this morning.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323267392252

WatchCount.com's Look-up tool reveals it sold for a best offer of $115Au:

As confirmed by the eBay Purchase History:

The 7-day auction for a well-worn Yema N8 Flygraf on a NATO strap, by a French eBay seller, ended a few moments ago, selling for 111.00 Euros after 26 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253627125044

Seiko7A38 at March 13, 2018 at 3:59 PM

Seiko7A38 at March 3, 2018 at 2:44 PM

This used Yema Spationaute III was listed this afternoon by a Zero-Feedback French eBay seller, as a 10-day auction with an opening bid price of 120 Euros (but with a reserve set). The strap fitted isn't original (looks like a ZRC) and the case-back has some nasty tool-inflicted scratches on it. Academic really, unless you're in France, because it looks like the seller is blocking bids à l'étranger. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142709618742

I'm not sure if it was inexperience, some intended strategy that backfired, or just plain stupidity on his part, but the Zero-feedback French eBay seller appears to have made a massive Faux Pas !  Later, in the evening of the first day, he made a few revisions to the listing. These included editing the title, deleting 'Spationaute III' so it just read simply 'Yema' and removing the reserve price altogether. 

The 10-day auction ended this afternoon, with only one bid placed (incidentally, a matter of 20 minutes after he'd made those revisions), thus selling for the comparative 'knock-down' opening bid price of 120 Euros ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142709618742

Yesterday evening, I ran a worldwide eBay search on 'Yema' and came across this listing for a Spationaute III, which I hadn't received a notification for - the reason being that the French seller has mis-spelled 'Spationnaute; with two 'n's. 

Vend cette montre dans l'état ,a été portée, bracelet cuir de couleur bleu .

Etanchéité non garantie, tous fonctionne parfaitement.

Bonne enchère...

and noticed a subtle change. The French seller has just changed his eBay user ID from hervpanchou_0 to herve-74. Maigret's got nothing on me.

This dressy Yema N71X33 '7A28' in decent used condition came up in my saved search notifications from LiveAuctioneers.com a couple of days ago. The actual auction is being held by Champagne Auctions of Montreal, Canada on Sunday 10th June @ 6:00pm BST. It makes a refreshing change to see a proper factual description. The auctioneer certainly seems to have done their homework - even on such a potentially cheap watch. 

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/62549742

As customary, there is 20% commission to be added to the final bid price:

Strangely, the auctioneer appears to have also listed it on eBay yesterday:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/292586359245

But when you click on the link, you're currently faced with this error message:

The French eBay seller's mis-spelled listing for a Yema Spationnaute III not surprisingly failed to attract any bids. He re-listed it, with the same 280 Euro opening bid price and predictably the same outcome. Earlier today, he re-listed it once again (still with the spelling error in the title), but with a rather more realistic opening bid price of 150 Euros.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142827458460

There was a Yema N71X31 '7A28' (head only - no strap) listed on Yahoo Japan at the beginning of this week, which I'd previously overlooked posting in this thread. It was a 6-day auction with an opening bid price of 100 Yen. The auction ended a few moments ago, the finishing time having been automatically extended by 5 minutes, due to a late bid placed. It sold for ¥9760 Yen after 18 bids. That's equivalent to approx. $89.10 USD / £66.50 GBP.

http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m257728144

This well-worn Yema N81X26, in need of some TLC and a replacement for the missing crown and stem, was listed yesterday evening by a French eBay seller, as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of 25 Euros. It'll be almost impossible to find an original Yema crown, but I have seen other examples fitted with a variety of replacements. It makes you wonder how anyone could lose anything that big ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132662116982

Montre chronographe yema paris ...elle a été testé,elle fonctionne.mais pas de tige et de couronne (sûrement cassée) ..CONCLUSION VENDUE POUR PIÈCE ....manque de tritium sur l aiguille des minutes ..diamètre hors remontoir 37 mm....PS LE POUSSOIR DU HAUT A GAUCHE SEMBLE BLOQUÉ............ps envois UE 12,50 €

Speaking of Yema N81X26's, as I was ....

Seiko7A38 at March 17, 2018 at 6:25 AM

The current spate of Yema '7A38' price-hiking madness continues.

This N81X26, fitted with an unsuitable Bonklip 'military' stainless bracelet, was listed late yesterday evening, by an Italian eBay seller, with a risible 'pie-in-the-sky' Buy-it-Now price of  500 Euros  (or the option to make an offer). Speaking of options, see my comment at the bottom of the listing description ....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292486404855

This watch has of course featured earlier in this thread (the non-original case-back protection sticker being the obvious giveaway). It was first mentioned a the top of Page 20 when it was listed by a French eBay seller, at the end of May 2016 and subsequently sold a week later for 156 Euros - to the current would-be profiteering reseller: jk13 appears to be a member of this forum. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252408186239

I hadn't previously added any updates to my initial post in March, but Italian eBay seller jk13jk13jk13 had continued to re-list his much nicer example, more recently reducing his 'pie-in-the-sky' Buy-it-Now price from the original ludicrous 500 Euros to 'only' 425 Euros. It looks like he's got tired of that silly game, because earlier this afternoon, he ended the most recent re-listing because of an error - presumably the error was in the pricing. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292588935452

He subsequently re-listed it as a 10-day auction, with an opening bid price of 1 Euro - and surprisingly, no reserve.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292603703175

This nice example of a Yema N81X26 made 156 Euros at auction two years ago. It'll be interesting to see how much better it does this time around.

The first of a couple of updates on the rather expensive, hence much re-listed Yema N8's offered by US eBay seller watchaddict412. What appears to have been his last 'NOS' Yema Spationaute III, which was first listed at the end of March, finally sold at the weekend, but not for the $499 Buy-it-Now price.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132561285915

WatchCount.com's Look-up tool reveals it finally sold for an offer of $350

As confirmed by the eBay Purchase History:

From the number of declined / expires offers, it looks like he had been hanging on for more, but eventually gave in.

So, with his last Yema Spationaute III sold, to quote myself from 12th April ....

That now leaves him with 5 of the less popular blingy gold-dialed version unsold:

US eBay seller watchaddict412 continued to re-list these five N81W63's, in vain, initially only making minor reductions in price. Clearly this strategy wasn't working. Eventually he gave in and as they ended, started re-listing them as 7-day auctions with a $9.99 opening bid. Here's a couple of screen prints I took earlier:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132654471334

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132660513061

The first 7-day $9.99 start auction ended late on Thursday evening of last week, selling for $223.07 after 20 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132654471334

The second (which I hadn't taken a screen shot of earlier) ended in the early hours of yesterday morning, selling for rather less - $135.83 after 9 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132658592478

The third auction, which was for the N81W63 with a grauched lug and scratched case-back, ended a few moments ago, selling for a mere $100 after 15 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132660513061

The 7-day French eBay auction for a well-worn Yema N81X26, missing its crown and stem, ended yesterday evening, selling for 54 Euros after 14 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132662116982

It would appear my presumption about that last 'NOS' Yema Spationaute III, listed by US eBay seller watchaddict412 being his 'last one' was a tad premature. Late yesterday evening, he listed yet another, with a slightly more down-to-earth* Buy-it-Now price of $435 - or the option to make an offer. Not forgetting, of course, to factor in an additional approx. $150 of GSP charges, if you're outside the US.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132674005706

Vintage Yema Spationaute III Split Second Chronograph Day Date Watch. The Watch has been in storage since the 90's. Minor scratches to the Case back. Original Box And tags. The watch needs a new battery. Take a close look at the pictures and ask any questions before purchasing.

Thanks for looking.

*Compared to his original 'pie-in-the-sky' asking price of $700, back in February.

Speaking of previously speculatively over-priced Yema Spationaute III's, I've just been scrolling back through this thread and found this halfway down page 24 ....

Seiko7A38 at July 1, 2017 at 8:12 AM

Seiko7A38 at June 9, 2017 at 9:47 AM

This Yema Spationaute III was listed on LeBonCoin yesterday afternoon, with a grossly over-optimistic asking price of 450 Euros.

Needless to say, it remains unsold. A couple of days ago, it was joined by another, with the same over-optimistic asking price. 

http://www.leboncoin.fr/montres_bijoux/1155112525.htm?ca=1_s

Yema Spationaute III

This is of course the same person and Spationaute III as herve-74 on eBay.

So he's actually been trying to sell it for nearly a year. 

Seiko7A38 at June 9, 2018 at 9:24 AM

The French eBay seller's mis-spelled listing for a Yema Spationnaute III not surprisingly failed to attract any bids. He re-listed it, with the same 280 Euro opening bid price and predictably the same outcome. Earlier today, he re-listed it once again (still with the spelling error in the title), but with a rather more realistic opening bid price of 150 Euros.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142827458460

That listing received no bids and went unsold. He re-listed it with Spationaute now spelled correctly (after I took pity on him and messaged him, pointing out his error) @ the same 150 Euro opening bid price.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142835166748

That listing ended at lunchtime today with no bids placed. He's just re-listed it again this afternoon, for another 7 days, with ARAGATZ added onto the title.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142842335935

Makes you wonder why he's still having so much difficulty shifting this one. 

Italian eBay seller  jk13jk13jk13's 10-day auction for his Yema N81X26 ended about an hour ago, selling for 181 Euros after 15 bids. A disappointingly small profit on the 156 Euros he paid for it two years ago - and somewhat less than his original risible 'pie-in-the-sky' Buy-it-Now price of 500 Euros !! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292603703175

Sometimes, not very often, I'll deliberately refrain from posting details of a listing for a Yema N8, which I've spotted on eBay or LeBonCoin - for a very good reason too: I don't want to draw any unnecessary unwanted attention to it, because I'm interested in buying it for myself.

Such was this dressy N8YM53 (or more correctly N8 YM5 3, per the title) that was listed by a French eBay seller last week as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of 40.50 Euros. When I spotted it, last Thursday, the listing was already 3 days old, but had no bids placed.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113079397143

Tres beau chronographe Yema Paris en tres bonne état de fonctionnement, verifier et pile changer, diametre 40 mm. attention quelques rayures en dessous voir photo 5.

It appears to be in very nice little worn, well cared for condition, with minimal plating wear and still fitted with what I'm assuming to be the original Yema leather strap. Let down only by some scratches on the caseback, at least one of which extends onto the back of the watch case. 

But what made this particular N8YM53 so appealing to me is that it's fitted with a different dial to the very few I've seen before (only 4 in total over the last 9 years, incidentally), which makes it something of a rarity. So I absolutely had to have it for my collection. After placing an initial low bid, I waited, with trepidation, for 4 days to see if anyone else would bid on it - or even have the temerity to try and outsnipe me. There was only one. He lost to my double 'killer' snipe. Sold to me for 59 Euros after 4 bids. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113079397143

Needless to say, I'm eagerly looking forward to its arrival early next week.