Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers
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| Forum Home > Other Watch Forums Sales Corners > Profiteering on watch forums - Never happens, right ? | ||
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
We've all seen it done. A watch is sold on eBay, sometimes cheaply, sometimes much to our annoyance the auction is ended early. Then after an all too brief interlude, the watch re-appears in a For Sale advert on a watch forurm - most usually SCWF, TZ-UK or WUS. There are some collectors who do this to fund their hobbies. Mike Mounce (on SCWF) is probably a name familiar to most on here .... But there are plenty of others at it, who shall remain nameless. | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
There is supposed to be some kind of 'watch collectors etiquette', which allegedly prevails on a few regional watch forums, like RLT. You'll often hear them chanting their mantra: that it's safer to buy from watch forum members, rather than risking the perils of the Bay. Bnllsh!t, I say. There are profiteering sharks disguised as 'friendly fellow collectors' on every watch forum and indeed every walk of life. Some are not so bright, though. | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Most of us who've been collecting 7Axx's for any length of time will have already discovered the 'goldmine' that is eBay Germany. So it's not unusual to see the odd 7A38 which had previously sold fairly cheaply on eBay Germany re-appear soon afterwards on UhrForum.de - with a somewhat inflated asking price. They're not too hard to spot, and generally I don't bother commenting on them. I don't post much on UhrForum.de (time and my lack of German), but I try to browse it at least once a week, searching on '7A38'. Sometimes I may miss the odd week. When I found this FS advert in late September, all bar one of the photos had disappeared: http://uhrforum.de/vintage-seiko-tricompax-chronograph-t115198 Vintage - SEIKO Tricompax Chronograph
Biete hier meinen top erhaltenen SEIKO aus Dezember 1983 an. Die Gangwerte sind tadellos, Batterie gewechselt und die Chronoanzeigen nullen exakt. Daten: Referenz: 7A38-7020 Seriennummer: 3D3678 Werk: 7A38, Quartz Zifferblatt: grau / Totalisatoren schwarz Lünetteneinlage: schwarz / Tachymeteranzeige Gehäuse: Edelstahl Band: Edelstahl (original SEIKO), passt bis 21cm Armumfang
Preis: €150,- inkl. DHL-Paket-Versand mit Sendungsverfolgung innerhalb D In summary - an average looking common-or-garden stainless 7A38-7020, with a clean looking dial, and some stretch to the bracelet. Not an unreasonable price, but you could probably buy one in similar condition for rather less on eBay Germany, with a bit of legwork.
What made this particular watch slightly more interesting is that someone has replaced the original crystal. In doing so they appear to not only have dispensed with the (black) nylon crystal gasket, but also managed to re-fit the 12-sided bezel 15° out of alignment. | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Both of which would make it fairly easy to recognise. So you can imagine my surprise when the same watch (serial number 3D3678 matches) turned up 2 months later on UhrForum.de ,,,, once again offered for sale, presumably by whoever had bought it: http://uhrforum.de/seiko-tricompax-sports-100-chronograph-werk-7a38-mit-seltenem-blatt-t120465 Seiko Tricompax Sports 100, Chronograph, Werk 7A38, mit seltenem Blatt Hallo, biete meine gut erhaltenen SEIKO aus Dezember 1983 an. Alle Funktionen sind natürlich gegeben, heißt, die Chronos funktionieren und nullen auch exakt wieder. Zu den Daten: Referenz: 7A38-7020 Seriennummer: 3D3678 Werk: 7A38, Quartz Zifferblatt: grau / Totalisatoren schwarz Lünetteneinlage: schwarz / Tachymeteranzeige Gehäuse: Edelstahl, Durchmesser: 39mm Band: Edelstahl (original SEIKO), passt bis 21 cm Armumfang.
Die Uhr sieht am Arm klasse aus. Mit diesem Zifferblatt, selten zu sehen! Gebrauchsspuren sind logischerweise vorhanden, da sie ja schon 29 Jahre alt ist, passt allerdings zum vintagen Look der Uhr. Haben möchte ich 190 € + Versand Bei Fragen bitte kurze PN
My surprise turned to disgust, when I noticed the price hike from 150 Euros (shipped) to 190 Euros + shipping - with nothing obviously having been done to remedy the crystal / bezel alignment issues in the interim. Who does the would-be seller think he is fooling ? | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
What's more, if you run a search on '7A38' on UhrForum.de today - it's remarkable how close together the two FS posts still are:
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Oh the irony. By yesterday afternoon, Etty1 had since dropped his asking price (yet again) - it's now down to 139 Euros + shipping. | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Funny thing - guess what I spotted the very next day after I posted that ? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261122612736 Another gullible eBay seller low-balled into parting with a 'family heirloom' - a tidy looking 7A38-7280, for well under the market value. After a new battery and what might be deemed a decent interval - Hey Presto, it magically appears on SCWF Trading Post yesterday: http://www.thewatchsite.com/index.php/topic,39669.html FS: Seiko 7A38-7280 extremely nice, all original $125 FS: very nice, all original 7A38. Very few signs of wear. Crystal perfect. Minor wear on GP on bracelet. All functions work perfectly. Brand-new battery. Bracelet comes with the standard short clasp but is currently on a long SQ one, GP to match the bracelet. $125 shipped USA, shipped at cost to the world, paypal no fees
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
I wasn't exactly surprised to see this: http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?255315 FS: Seiko 7A38-7280 Vintage SQ Chronograph - OHPF
Hi all On offer i have a superb vintage Seiko 7A38-7280 Chronograph. Watch measures approx 38mm across. This example dates from Jan 1988 and is in superb condition throughout. This has the famed 15 Jewel all metal construction quartz chrono 7A38 movement. Really amazing quality, and a pity some of Seiko's more recent offerings don't have the same quality inside! The condition of this is really excellent, the beautuiful dial is just mint, as are the hands as well. The case and bezel are also in excellent condition. All functions are working perfectly. All chrono functions are working correctly and all hands re-set perfectly to zero. The original Seiko bracelet will fit up to an 8 inch wrist. Really nice example of this vintage classic!
Asking £115, NOW £99 ** NOW OHPF ** for this, which will include delivery to your door as well. As purchased off ebay by a member of this forum almost exactly one month ago: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221183366771
Athough he may have contributed two dozen posts to this forum in the last three months of 2013 .... I'm afraid he has just confirmed, by flipping this 5th 7A38 in as many months, my initial assessment of his motives was 100% correct: http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?239194-FS-Seiko-7A38-7190-Chronograph-SOLD http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?247977-FS-Vintage-Seiko-7A38-7070-Chronograph-SOLD! http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?248855-FS-Seiko-7A38-7020-Vintage-Chronograph-Sold http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?255315-FS-Seiko-7A38-7280-Vintage-SQ-Chronograph-OHPF | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Obviously Chris feels the need to make a few more fast bucks. http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?262561
In case that WTB looks vaguely familiar: http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?238159
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
And yet another WTB (presumably so he can sell it for profit once again), posted earlier this month. http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?269854
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Although I might appear to be giving him a hard time, Chris certainly isn't alone in his activities. In fact, profiteering is rife on just about every watch forum, except this one. You know I won't allow it to happen on here, anyway. Spotted this FS advert on Orologi & Passioni earlier this week, for a well-worn 7A38-7180: http://orologi.forumfree.it/?t=66538125 Vendo/Scambio Seiko cronografo vintage 7A38 - 7180 Dalla mia collezione cedo cronografo vintage SEIKO referenza 7A38 - 7180 (anno 1987) equipaggiato con il sofisticatissimo calibro cronografico al quarzo con precisione al centesimo di secondo.
Cassa in acciaio con copertura PVD opaco; come si può vedere dalle foto l'orologio è in buone condizioni generali senza graffi o ammaccature rilevanti (la copertura PVD ha segni d'usura sui punti di maggior contatto, usuali su questo tipo di orologi caratterizzati dalla "delicatezza" del PVD); perfetti il quadrante (nero opaco con scritte dorate e logo SEIKO in metallo dorato applicato; i segnetti bianchi che si vedono sul vetro sono pulviscolo) con indici applicati, il rehaut con scala tachimetrica ed il gioco sfere; da notare l'effetto particolare con la luce dei compax (non sono riuscito a fotografarlo) con parte centrale matt e scala lucida; il trizio presente su sfere ed indici è ancora visibile al buio. L'orologio funziona correttamente (ora, cronografo e calendario day-date); giorno della settimana in inglese/francese con sabato indicato in azzurro e domenica in rosso; il fondello in acciaio (ci sono delle iniziali lievemente incise) riporta, oltre referenza e numero seriale, la scritta JAPAN A con simbolo SUWA.
L'orologio è tutto originale; vi è montato un cinturino in gomma stile Tropic praticamente nuovo. Lo cedo a 110 euro inclusa spedizione ....
Note how the description begins with the usual misleading bnllsh!t: "Dalla mia collezione", which translates as: From my collection. Yeh right. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271231882061 Apart from the rubbing wear to the black chrome coating, the ding marks on the top of the bezel and top right lug box match exactly:
il fondello in acciaio (ci sono delle iniziali lievemente incise) translates as: the steel back (there are slightly engraved initials):
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