Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

I find it hard to fathom the attraction, but this 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 listed on eBay a few days ago as 'Spares or Repair' has already been bid to over £300 with a day of the auction still to run. Replacements for the missing sub-dial hands and defective coil / rotor shouldn't be hard to source though. The seller's watchmaker can't have tried very hard. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281722437390

Note the discrepancy between the description, which implies a faulty Time stepper motor - and the seller's reply in the Q & A. 

As I wrote on the previous page, my 'standard copy and paste quote' applies.

At the risk of my beginning to sound like an old worn-out record ....

Here's yet another speculatively stupidly over-priced 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 listed on eBay UK late yesterday evening.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141697199773

Hi, 

I am selling my last watch from my millitary collection. These watches are becoming increasingly rare to find and in particular in as mint condition as this one. 

I am offering for sale my Seiko 7A28-7120 also known as the Seiko Gen 1. These watches were issued to RAF pilots between 1984 and 1990 and the MOD bought a total of 11,307.

The watch is in mint issued condtion with scratch free glass, the dial is mark free and clearly showing a “circle P” on the dial, indicating that Promethium was used to illuminate portions of the dial and hands. The chronograph functions correctly.

The case is in mint issued condtion and on the the caseback are stamped the NATO stock numbers, as well as the watch’s individual issue number and year of issue.

The watch has the original issue pattern strap with is a leather bund style, this is the Correct strap that the watches were original issued. I will also inclued a grey NATO strap.

Thanks for looking and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Apart from his speculative pricing (note currently no 'Make Offer' button), I think the seller's idea of mint and mine differ slightly. 

Ignore the repro' leather cuff strap (which can be purchased on eBay for 25 Quid) and the scratch-free crystal (replacements can be as cheap as £1.50) and study the photos carefully, looking particularly around the edges of the bezel. All the usual scuffs and scrapes and a hefty ding at '35' and a bigger one at '15'. Not saying it's a poor example - just not mint - far from it and typically over-priced.

Seiko7A38 at June 19, 2015 at 10:44 PM

I find it hard to fathom the attraction, but this 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 listed on eBay a few days ago as 'Spares or Repair' has already been bid to over £300 with a day of the auction still to run. Replacements for the missing sub-dial hands and defective coil / rotor shouldn't be hard to source though. The seller's watchmaker can't have tried very hard. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281722437390

Note the discrepancy between the description, which implies a faulty Time stepper motor - and the seller's reply in the Q & A. 

I had a couple of pops at this as it should be an easy fix like you say, even at this price there's still decent money in it but I'm out. 

Thankfully, common sense prevailed and it sold for the same figure of £310 after 26 bids (including Phil's 'couple of pops'). 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281722437390

Apologies for the lack of recent updates. Been too busy. Another 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 was listed on eBay yesterday evening.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181792935771

The first RAF-issued Seiko chronograph ( Gen. 1 ) was procured from Seiko UK and issued primarily to Royal Air Force pilots and navigators from October 1984 until November 1990, has just had a new battery fitted and has had a quick check at the jewellers this one is issued in 1984 the part number is NSN6645-997683056.

As I wrote on the previous page, my 'standard copy and paste quote' applies.

At the risk of my beginning to sound like an old worn-out record ....

Here's yet another speculatively stupidly over-priced 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 that was listed on eBay UK yesterday afternoon.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16176648432

I'm selling this lovely example of the rare and sought after Seiko 7A28-7120 military issued fast jets pilots' chronograph.

I've had this cleaned and checked by my watchmaker, who fitted a new glass (which makes a world of difference on these as you can see in the pics) and a new battery. All functions are working perfectly and the hands reset correctly to the 12 o'clock position as they should. 

The watch is fitted with a brand new black NATO strap, and is in great condition. All in all this is a great example of a very collectable and handsome British military issued watch.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions. I'm on 07779 622172.

Can't say that I've been watching these listings very closely lately (been pre-occupied with other stuff - mostly work unfortunately) ....

But a few seem to have either ended on schedule and not been re-listed, or 'ended early because the item is no longer available'.

Hence no conclusive sales results. 

Anyway - there'll alway s be plenty more. Here's another 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 that was listed on eBay yesterday evening:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111734093703

Seiko Gen 1 Pilots watch RAF Issue. Perfect working order from my own collection, the serial number has been blurred by photoshop but is there. Few marks consistent with an issued watch. All hands reset to zero once activated. Keeps faultless time.

Seiko7A38 at June 5, 2015 at 4:21 AM

Seiko7A38 at February 5, 2015 at 7:29 AM

Those of you who may have been watching the 6th ? re-listing for a 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 by eBay seller Britishmilitarysurplus in the last week of January, will have noticed that the listing was ended early, because it was allegedly no longer available (again). 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/27174218919

Well that one's back again too - now as an auction listing with a £500 opening bid price.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301515179076

Apologies for the re-quote (from page 14), but this one (without 7A28-7120 or RAF in the title) had nearly slipped under my radar.

This latest re-listing by eBay seller britishmilitarysurplus is the same watch on a 'James Bond' NATO from February, still unsold.

The seller is re-using most of the previous set of photos - and confirmed by the same case-back issue # 9511 / 89 in both sets.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400926913754

Excuse the multiple quote from a couple of pages back - you'll see the reason in a moment. 

I must admit that I haven't had time to look out for 7A28-7120 RAF Gen.1's over the last couple of months, due to pressure of work.

What I did notice was that of those few which I still had on my eBay watching page - apart from the long-running grossly over-priced (£895) re-listing by alex001chopper, which ended once again yesterday - most seemingly ended unsold and weren't re-listed.

Which probably very likely means that they sold off eBay afterwards, presumably for a lower negotiated price than the Buy-it-Now.

An example of that being the last re-listing (in the above quote) by eBay seller britishmilitarysurplus, which hasn't been relisted.

But this morning, I spent a few minutes running various searches on eBay and came across this current auction listing:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252076495394

The format may be slightly different, but the choice of 'James Bond' NATO strap, wording of the title and description and location of Basildon, Essex, all point to this eBay seller katrinasarmedforces being exactly the same company as britishmilitarysurplus. Studying the photos, which are of better quality compared to their previous listings, this example appears to be in reasonably decent cosmetic condition, so it'll be interesting to see what it makes in a couple of days time.

Well there you have it. That auction ended 5 minutes ago, with for once what might almost be deemed a sensible selling price for a 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 - a mere £409.99 after 13 bids. Indeed, skipping back to the first page, after 2 years of lunacy (mostly down to speculative Buy-it-Now pricing), that's back to 2013 pricing levels.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252076495394

So, particularly considering the previous recent auction result above ....

As I wrote on the previous page, my 'standard copy and paste quote' applies.

At the risk of my beginning to sound like an old worn-out record ....

Here's yet another speculatively stupidly over-priced 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 listed on eBay UK yesterday afternoon.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141769966565

Up for your consideration is a Seiko 7a28-7120 Quartz chronograph. 

Seiko made history with this watch making it the worlds first Quartz Analogue Chronograph. 

This was an RAF issue 1984 model. Also used in movies such as Aliens and James Bond. 

This specimen is in quite good condition for a watch that has been through the battlefield.

It has some small and minor dinks and scratches to the case and back but being what it is these are negligible.

The crystal is flawless and a pleasure to view time.

On a replacement new khaki Nato strap also can provide the nato strap it came on which is very grimy and not sure if it's the original one. 

Please note this is a used item which will have signs of wear so please take this in to consideration and use images for cosmetics before committing to a bid. 

A fresh battery has been installed.

And if you're even considering making an offer at half the ludicrous Buy-it price then you need your head reading. 

Meanwhile, here's another 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 listed on eBay this afternoon, about half an hour ago - which it might be worth making an offer (or two) on. Low start auction (99p) - no reserve. Let's see if it goes the distance - or will the seller lose his bottle ? 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141773763732

Up for auction from my personal collection is this stunning Generation 1 RAF pilots watch. What makes it extra special is that it's from 1984 which was the first year of manufacture. All functions of the watch work as they should.

The only slight fault is that the glass has been replaced and has a small mark on it. However it is still one of the best examples of this type of watch that I have seen. Please refer to photographs. I don't know if the strap is original but it was what I bought it with.

The remainder of the description text (which I'm not going to bother copying and pasting) is unashmedly cribbed from Brandon Cripps's well-written Worn & Wound blog article: http://wornandwound.com/2014/01/28/time-spec-seiko-7a28-raf-gen-1-chronograph/

The above eBay auction for a 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 ended about 5 minutes ago, this example selling for £469 after 31 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141773763732

Although not outlandish, that final price may have been inflated by shill bidding, or inexperienced newbs. 

If you check the bidding history: http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=141773763732

There were 3 Zero-feedback bidders (one recently created): a***b, 1***h, 6***u from mid-week right through to the closing seconds. 

Checking my eBay watching page this morning, I noticed that speculatively stupidly over-priced 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1, listed by seller hallmark-time had sold yesterday evening against a Best Offer.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141769966565

According to Goofbid's eBay Best Offer History tool the offer accepted was for £700 ! 

So despite the two most recent eBay auction results, it appears there are still punters out there with more money than sense. 

Meanwhile over on Yahoo Japan auctions, there are currently two 7A28-7120 RAF Gen.1's listed.

The one with the laughable 128,000 Yen openining bid price has been re-listed ad nauseam for just over a year now. 

It first appeared on 7th September 2014 (same item # m124597366) with an asking price of 98,000 Yen. (See page 10).

The other new listing, which had an opening bid price of 1000 yen appeared yesterday:

http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r134752281

Google doesn't translate the seller's formatted description particularly well:

Product Details

Small scratch, dirt, etc. associated with the use there is, I think still enough serving. Operation verification settled.

Because with regard to the state of the commodity there are individual differences, please judge for yourself from the image.

Also with regard to image, there is also an error occurs in the color depending on the environment such as reflection and PC.

(I will consider it as the actual thing priority) 　product is everything of image.

Case Size: about 3.7cm (excluding crown) 　for amateur measurement, error, please forgive me.

Wednesday and Sunday and pm 18 to 10 am, the corresponding answer and dealings Navi to questions, etc. can not be sending out work, please acknowledge beforehand. 　After a successful bid, my auction ⇒ successful bid ⇒ be sure to confirm your "exhibitor message from" We, thank you to advance your contact from dealings Navi within 24 hours after a successful bid.

The question of auction end date, because there are times when you can not answer, please note.

That Yahoo Japan auction for the 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 was due to end @ 14:10 (UK time) today, but it was automatically extended by 10 minutes due to late bids placed.

http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r134752281

It finally sold for 106,000 Yen (equivalent to $878.50  USD / £578.70 GBP) after 55 bids by 11 different bidders.

Here's another rather optimistically priced 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 listed on eBay yesterday evening.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391277857689

Seiko "First Generation" RAF issue wrist watch issued 1990 in superb working order having just been serviced by Seiko.

New Battery, New Glass, New strap.

Perhaps not so optimistically over-priced, after all.  That eBay auction ended 5 minutes ago - sold for £560 after 7 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391277857689

Not much 7A28 RAF Gen. 1 activity on eBay lately, apart from seller alex001chopper re-listing his for the nth time @ £895. 

Here's another offered FS yesterday on MWR forum, by a Hong Kong seller, with a typically optimistic $850 US asking price:

http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showthread.php?71225  FS: Seiko RAF GEN 1 Chrono 7A28 1989

Spoke too soon. 

As I've written on a number of previous occasions, my 'standard copy and paste quote' applies:

At the risk of my beginning to sound like an old worn-out record ....

Here's yet another speculatively stupidly over-priced 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1 listed on eBay UK  yesterday evening:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171972613985

SEIKO 7A28-7120 GEN 1 CHRONOGRAPH MILITARY WATCH FAST JET PILOT 1986 ISSUE,

WATCH IS FULLY WORKING INCLUDING ALL DIALS,

NEW GLASS AND BATTERY PROFESSIONALLY FITTED BY JEWELER,

COMES WITH NEW NATO STRAP,

UK POSTCODE ONLY (EXCLUDING ISLANDS).

(WATCH WILL BE SENT ROYAL MAIL 1ST CLASS TRACKED RECORDED DELIVERY)

Although I hadn't bothered to annotate my previous post, after 6 days into the 10-day listing, eBay seller grebert09 reduced his wishful Buy-it-Now price from £795 to £695. The listing ended yesterday evening, sold against a Best Offer:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171972613985

According to Goofbid's eBay Best Offer History tool, the offer accepted was £600.