Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271038103546

Jose Sotto has an interesting piece up this week.

It's in a ripe old state, but is interesting because of it's scarcity.  We often see 'Bishop' and 'Ripley' variants of the Giugiaro range of 7A28s but rarely this one.  I am presuming they sold in limited quantites and didn't wear well due to the 'bar' feature.  Bit of a 'marmite' looker, i'd say, but if you're a fan or collector of the Giugiaro 7A28 range, it's an intriguing lot.

No criticism of your choice of adjectives, James. Indeed, a rather tired looking example of the rare JDM black chrome 7A28-5000. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271038103546

VINTAGE SEIKO GIUGIARO SPEEDMASTER QUARTZ CHRONO 7A28-5000 RARE

Not only is the original rubber bracelet missing, the black chrome plating badly worn in places, but that faded yellow CHRONOGRAPH dial printing and minute marks would originally have been red. Still, all credit to José for turning up another extremely rare 7Axx piece.

There have been a couple of NOS examples on eBay within the last 12 months - both black and dark green coated versions, but I didn't bother to right-click and save any photos. For comparison, here's a NOS 7A28-5000 offered by AntiWatchMan, way back:

http://www.antiwatchman.com/J-2050

Well, despite the frustrating efforts of those annoying profiteering w*nkers at Worth(point)opedia to remove any cached eBay listings:

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/seiko-giugiaro-sbbj001-7a28-5000-near-250464489

I still managed to find an eBay listing for a 7A28-5000 that they'd missed - dating back to August last year. 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/itm/160619972711

VINTAGE SEIKO 7A28-5000 GIUGIARO DESIGN JAPAN MEGA RARE

SEIKO 7A28-5000 GIUGIARO DESIGN JAPAN MEGA RARE

NEW WITH TAGS 

NEW BATTERY LIFE 7 YEARS 

ORIGINAL SEIKO BOX 

ALL FUNCTIONS WORKING

Sold on 4th August 2011 for $820 US (approx. £518.53) - the italian eBay seller was originally asking $1500, when it was first listed. 

So that's what a decent example of a 7A28-5000 can fetch on the open market .... and up yours Worthpoint ! 

Actually, with a little intuitive googling, it's not too difficult to circumvent those conniving money-grabbing b*st*rds at WorthPoint. 

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/seiko-giugiaro-sbbj001-7a28-5000-near-250464489 (note the partial incorrect item # given).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320801759092

SEIKO Giugiaro SBBJ001 7A28-5000 Near Mint and extremely rare! Box,Tag's,Papers

SEIKO SBBJ001 7A28-5000 Giugiaro

SEIKO Giugiaro SBBJ001 7A28-5000. Probably the funkiest looking of the series! This SEIKO Giugiaro is in superb condition, near mint! One tiny blemish to report and that is a small ding which I think could be a factory fault as this watch has no sign of wear! non at all! There is a cage that surrounds the crystal you can just make out a small ding at the 55 minute marker (on the cage) this is only noticeable under very close examination. A very collectible watch that rarely comes on the market!

Massive high res pictures at the bottom of the listing! (Seller's Photobucket images now deleted).

CASE: The PVD coating is perfect, no sign of rubbing or wear anywhere on the watch! 

CROWN: Inspected and re-lubed, PVD coating is perfect, mint! 

PUSHERS: In excellent condition, lubricated and working as they should. PVD coating is perfect, mint! 

CRYSTAL: Mint original.

DIAL: Mint original. 

HANDS: Mint original.

MOVEMENT: 7A28.... In my humble opinion one of the best Quartz movements from SEIKO! It was good enough for the RAF Gen 1's (Military commissioned watch) and that's good enough for me... or you! Serviced with a new battery and case back gasket. 

STRAP: Part Rubber with PVD Coated clasp and connecting rings, all in mint condition. You cut the rubber segments to size the watch... Suit 20cm or less

ON A FINAL NOTE: A very desirable and probably the funkiest watch from the GIUGIARO line up!... If you have any suggestion regarding: Cash on collection, getting the cost down or indeed any other matter, you are positively encouraged to contact me via: kineticsinc@ntlworld.com

Sold on 6th December 2011 for £875.00. So better make that 2 x Up Yours, WorthPoint !  

With apologies for the slightly  rant about WorthPoint but those w*nk*rs annoy me intensely. 

Going ever so slightly more was anybody else watching José Sotto's equally dog-eared 7A28-6000 'Bishop' yesterday evening?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370640613103

VINTAGE SEIKO SPEEDMASTER "BISHOP" QUARTZ CHRONO 7A28-6000

Sold for what I thought (given the rather poor condition) was a very healthy $204 after 18 bids.

In the light of that result, it'll be interesting to see what his 7A28-5000 'Steering Wheel' makes. 

I may have posted this elsewhere before, but for those who haven't seen it, here's the official Guigiaro designed Speedmaster range:

http://my.reset.jp/~inu/ProductsDataBase/Products/SEIKO/GIUGIARO-collection/GIUGIARO-collection.htm

I'm after one of these 5000's (and a bishop and all the other 28's he did!) ... I know they aren't to everyone's tastes, but I'm Giugiaro obsessed! (Shame my wallet doesn't stretch to most of them!)

In the light of that result, it'll be interesting to see what his 7A28-5000 'Steering Wheel' makes.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271038103546

Well, knackered and tired-looking or not, that 7A28-5000 still managed to make a respectable $255 (approx. £160.54) after 15 bids.

I suspect the listing must have had a good few watchers too - it received over 830 views during the 7 day period. Way to go, José ! 

Giving "knackered" a new meaning (as in "missing parts")- and using a google search pic how it should have looked once, the first hit from this site...

http://www.ebay.de/itm/311392421107

Rare it may be but it is astonishingly ugly, bears more than a passing resemblance don't you think

Seiko 7a28-5000 Ferengi

Does anyone kow what the box for SEIKO 7A28 5000 GIUGIARO looks like?