Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

This Yema N8 Flygraf was listed this afternoon by a French eBay seller.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111540672314

Belle montre chronographe Yema Flygraf quartz.

Célèbre mouvement Seiko 7a38.

Verre, couronne vissée et pile changés.

Bracelet non neuf mais en bonne état.

Montre fonctionnant parfaitement.

Le 06-déc.-14 à 17:12:35 Paris, le vendeur a ajouté les informations suivantes :

La montre sera fourni avec sa notice d'origine.

Apart from the non-original screw-down crown and replacement (presumably domed mineral glass) crystal fitted, which he disclosed, the seller has omitted to mention that gobbily re-painted sweep second hand. Dunno what it's off, but it sure as heck ain't the original.

Seiko7A38 at December 6, 2014 at 12:16 PM

Seiko7A38 at November 27, 2014 at 12:47 PM

Quel surprise, not ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131362288526

That's if it ever genuinely was available.

It's back again. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131370894875

Re-listed early this morning as a low start (1 Euro), but private listing - bidders' identities protected auction. Caveat Emptor. 

That re-listed private auction by seller acabolet for the ex-Jecko Yema Spationaute III ended earlier this morning. It sold for 302.50 Euros (approx. £240.65) after 21 bids. As there was at least one bid retraction (@ 200 Euros) I'd suspect shill bidding was involved.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131370894875

Belated edit: This evidently dodgy French eBay seller acabolet subsequently changed his user ID (once again) to aucellu.

http://contact.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=aucellu

The eBay auction for that less-than-original Yema N8 Flygraf ended mid afternoon. It sold for 157 Euros (approx. £125) after 47 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111540672314

I nearly missed this NOS Yema Spationaute III in the run up to Christmas. I picked it up from a cached result on Donkiz

It appears to have first been listed on Kijiji.it (eBay Classifieds) on 14th December; the Italian seller re-listed again it on the 25th ....

when he decided to enhance the listing title - obviously under the influence of Christmas spirit, mis-spelling Spationaute (with a 't').

Which is why I didn't find it again straight away. 

http://www.kijiji.it/annunci/orologi/napoli-annunci-altre-zone/yema-stationaute-iii-7a38-nos/74290772

The watch head appears to be in NOS condition, with the original Yema clear case-back protection sticker still in place ....

But the strap fitted certainly isn't original. No idea what brand it might be, but I've never seen a(ny) Yema strap like that before.

The price tag attached appears to show 570000 Italian Lire (pre 1999). which would equate to approx. 295 Euros.

But notice something missing from the advert ?  Like a price.  One assumes it's 'Price on application'. 

Well you can't accuse me on not giving my readers a shot at this one. 

If anybody had bothered to contact the seller, Pino, through Kijiji.it they would have found that his undisclosed asking price was in fact only 150 Euros, which is very reasonable for a NOS Spationaute III - especially compared to prices asked French eBay sellers. 

Not only that, but it also came with the original Yema navy blue ribbed leather strap (and fixing pins and tubes), which he'd replaced because it was a bit withered with age.

The downsides were that he didn't accept PayPal (only Postepay.it) and didn't ship outside Italy. 

Nor did he actually live in Naples (as shown in the advert), but in Pompeii which is 25Kms away.

I watched as that second Kijiji.it listing (linked above) expired and was replaced by another and another ....

http://www.kijiji.it/annunci/orologi/napoli-annunci-altre-zone/yema-stationaute-iii-7a38-nos/74481686

http://www.kijiji.it/annunci/orologi/napoli-annunci-altre-zone/yema-stationaute-iii-7a38-nos/74640206

Being an ex-logistics guy, not averse to 'thinking outside the box'  I hatched a plan to buy it. Anyway, to cut a long story short ....

The watch was picked up on my behalf @ 10:00am this morning in a face-to-face cash transaction, at Naples central railway station, by the wife of a work colleage. Here's a couple of Q&D camera phone pics she took this morning.

PHK at May 2, 2014 at 8:45 AM

Let's see: "I really don't need another 43mm Spationaute III"....! Sounds like the title of another thread coming up. 

Sometimes these things just gotta be done. 

"The watch was picked up on my behalf @ 10:00am this morning in a face-to-face cash transaction, at Naples central railway station, by the wife of a work colleage." Oh so film noir... The perfect set-up for "another thread coming up" 

Paul 

Last week, a Yema N8 Flygraf, in apparently decent cosmetic condition, but fitted with a non-original leather strap and a flat battery, was listed on eBay in the States. I deliberately didn't post about it in this thread while the listing was current, because not only was I interested myself, but a couple of other forum members had expressed an interest in it. Now that this topic (indeed the whole forum section) is back in the public domain, I didn't see the point in advertising it to the World and possibly attracting unwanted attention.

The funniest thing is that although the seller had listed it using eBay's Global Shipping Program (which would potentially have given him worldwide market / visibility), he wrote in the description: ship USA only. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301498504666

I say 'in apparently decent cosmetic condition', because half of the sellers photos were out of focus. I've uploaded the best of them:

Used watch in good condition, everything on back of watch- water resistant tested 100k , movement japan- assembled in France, 1-933 , noo16, stainless steel, needs battery, beautiful watch, starting bid low, good luck , ship USA only

I had an early night last night (by my standards). At the time I hit the sack, with 3 hours to left to run, bidding had stalled @ $60:

There was some late action (three bidders sniped in the closing seconds), but nobody appeared willing to pay 'big money' for it.

It sold for a mere $123.49 (approx. £82) after 9 bids:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301498504666

Something else, in a similar vein (although not techically a Yema N8, but also manufactured by C.G.H., using the same Shimauchi Ltd. V906 re-branded movement) that I'd genuinely inadverantly previously overlooked mentioning in this thread, was this Kamatz 517000 'Pilot's watch listed a week before the Flygraf, by another parochial US eBay seller:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171642371368

Rare, rare French Kamatz Paris Pilot watch quartz 15 jewels movement, in good condition unique case three registers, week day windows. Back plate states 10 arms Made in France. Sold as is no returns, no international sales.

I'd forgotten that I'd added it to my eBay watching page.  Needless to say, with the pie-in-the-sky $250 asking price it went unsold.

This Yema Spationaute III Aragatz was listed on LeBonCoin.fr this afternoon

http://www.leboncoin.fr/montres_bijoux/761679271.htm?ca=1_s

Yema Original Spationaute lll Chrono

rolexvintage - Mise en ligne le 27 janvier à 13:59.

Prix : 240 €

Ville : Plan-de-la-Tour

Code postal : 83120 

Description :

Yema Spationaute 3 Chrono

Mouvement Quartz

modéle vintage

fonctionne bien

boucle Yema

Diamétre 43 mm 

Ce produit est original. Ce produit n'est pas une contrefacon. 

Ce produit est original la contrefaçon est interdite par la loi française.

It may indeed be all original, including the original Yema navy shark strap, but that SUN half visible in the day window, with the time showing as 7:25 points to something not functioning quite as it should. I'd suspect a broken day / date changeover wheel. 

This 38mm 'reduced' Yema Spationaute III was listed on a rather strangely named Indonesian blogspot a week ago. Compared to most of what turns up in Indonesia, this one appeared to be in reasonably good condition, on the original Yema tan shark strap.

http://xdeathmarket.blogspot.com/2015/01/for-sale-yema-spationaute-iii-quartz.html

Jumat, 23 Januari 2015

(SOLD) Yema Spationaute III Quartz Space Mission "Aragatz" France - CCCP

Deskripsi :

- Yema Spationaute III

- Made In France

- Movement Shimauchi v906 berbasis Seiko Cal. 7a38

- Screw in crown, screw case back

- All original kondisi batangan

- Diameter case 40mm

- water resist msh sangat bagus

- Akurasi bagus

Prefer Cash On Delivery agar bs langsung cek barang dan Dibayar ditempat. Untuk pengiriman menggunakan fasilitas JNE Yes (satu hr sampai bila kota tujuan terdaftar di JNE).

CP : 0817-0817-964

PRICE : IDR.SOLD,-

Yema Spationaute III Aragatz listed on eBay by a Romanian seller a day or so ago. No interest so far @ the $250 opening price. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191500958647

Vintage wristwatch Yema YEMA Spationaute III ( mission "ARAGATZ" J-L Chrétien 1988 ), S.N. 2 187, good condition, a small scratch on the crystal and a few on the case back, movement Shimauchi (7A38) 15 jewels works perfectly, 43 mm diameter. Sold as is. Watch will be delivered w/o battery; 

All duties and taxes are the responsibility of the customer. 

Payment: PAYPAL. Thank you!

Seiko7A38 at November 15, 2014 at 11:22 AM

Spotted another laughably over-priced Yema Spationaute III 38mm 'reduced' N80A696, fitted with a hideously ill-matched TAG Heuer style after-market bracelet, listed on LeBonCoin this morning. Unusually small photos - even for LBC. Probably just as well. 

http://www.leboncoin.fr/montres_bijoux/732896168.htm?ca=1_s

Montre Yema Spationaute III

 

Fretté - Mise en ligne le 15 novembre à 10:46.

Prix : 720 €

Ville : Crach

Code postal : 56950 

Description :

Vends montre YEMA Spationaute III tout acier, étanche 100m, quartz, série limitée, chrono avec temps intermédiaires, jour et date, couronne vissée, lunette à cliquet anti retour, parfait état.

Frais d'envoi à la charge de l'acheteur et paiement contre colis au préposé de la poste.

I notice that one's been re-listed on LeBonCoin this morning - now down to 'only' 450 Euros. 

http://www.leboncoin.fr/montres_bijoux/767053531.htm?ca=1_s

Yema Spationaute III Aragatz listed on eBay by a Romanian seller a day or so ago. No interest so far @ the $250 opening price. 

Nor unsurprisingly was there any intererest when the seller re-listed it twice more (for 3 days) @ the same $250 opening bid price.

But the third time they relisted it (again for just three days), they dropped the opening bid price down to $199 - for which it just sold:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191510199872

Whether it's just an odd coincidence, but another 43mm Spationaute III Aragatz was listed yesterday by another Romanian eBay seller:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161600910181

Vintage wristwatch Yema YEMA Spationaute III ( mission "ARAGATZ" J-L Chrétien 1988 ), S.N. 3 212, good condition, a small scratch on the crystal and a few on the case back, movement Shimauchi (7A38) 15 jewels works perfectly, 43 mm diameter. Sold as is.

Again not the best of examples: crystal is quite badly scratched; dial lume yellowed with age and the case-back has a couple of nasty slipped tool marks. The aftermarket strap fitted is the ever-popular ZRC 22mm 'double jonc' style in navy blue, but something's not right with the fitment on one side. I suspect somone may have f**ked up the lining / fixing tube when they fitted it. Note the bulge. 

The above auction for the Yema Spationaute III was originally scheduled to end lunchtime today, but when I checked my eBay watching page, I noticed that the Romanian seller had ended it early, late yesterday evening, because 'there was an error in the listing'. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161600910181

At that stage, bidding had struggled to reach $91 and the reserve price had still not been met.

It's since been re-listed this morning as a Buy-it-Now for 30 days at a rather optimistic $220:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161609651927

The seller had also uploaded a fresh set of photos:

They're a lot sharper. Unfortunately they also serve to highlight the badly scratched crystal and the butchered case-back. 

EBay can be strange at times. Two days ago, that less-than-stellar Spationaute III failed to make reserve - bidding had stalled @ $91.

Last night it sold against the Buy-it-Now price for $220. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161609651927

This NOS Yema N71Z36 Americas Cup '7A28' was advertised for sale on ForumaMontres yesterday evening:

http://forumamontres.forumactif.com/t176950

[Vends] Yema Chronographe America's Cup France

Bonjour, 

Je vends cette Yema (série N7) jamais portée, avec boite, manuel d'instruction et le pin's. 

Chronographe

Tachymètre

Etanche 100m

Très bon état, sticker toujours en place sur le fond du boitier. 

Prix: 210€ ( frais de port inclus )

Contact: PM ou doudou.sa@hotmail.fr

I have dealt with this seller (real name Julien) on a couple of previous occasions and can vouch for him. 

Spotted this Yema Spationaute III, with very yellowed lume, missing a fair bit of bezel inlay paint and fitted with an unusual non-original leather bund type strap, listed by one of the regular Indonesian blogspot sellers - Watchmeandyou, ten days ago, still for sale:

http://www.watchmeandyou.com/2015/02/yema-spationaute-iii-chronograph.html

The asking price of 1,500,000 Indonesian Rupiah equates to approx. $115.50 USD or £75 GBP.

What is it with Yema and Romania lately ?  Here's another N8 Flygraf listed by another Romanian eBay seller this afternoon.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121585004277

HELLO.AN AUCTION THIS RARE YEMA FLYGRAF CHRONOGRAPH 100 M FRANCE.ALL STAINLESS STEEL,THE CASE MEASURES APROX 41 MM WITHOUT CROWN AND PUSHERS.EXCELENT WORKING WITH MOVEMENT SHIMAUKI JAPAN ,15 JEWELS LIKE SEIKO. THANKS.

I've rotated all 4 of the seller's photos through 90 degrees for clarity. Note also the non-original screw-down crown fitted.