Yet another greedy profiteering (UK) eBay seller to avoid !!
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 3:33 pm
The Yema Spationaute III Aragatz is one of my favourite non-Seiko branded 7A38's. I have far too many of them .... around two dozen of the 43mm version, including several NOS examples; a few with the limited edition mission flags dial and not forgetting the pride of my collection: Jean-Loup Chrétien's space flown prototype. The majority of them have come from eBay: France; Italy, UK and particularly the USA. At least 4 that I can remember, including 'Grande Bleu' and the last example I bought in June 2023, came from Yahoo Japan. It might surprise some readers to learn, but they actually crop up over there fairly regularly. Often as not, they're the later 'export' versions, with what I refer to as the 'minimal printing' dial (just YEMA and 100M - no PARIS nor QUARTZ) and usually 4-xxx or 5-xxx prefixed serial numbers.
Indeed one cropped up on there a fortnight ago. It was a 5-day auction with a low start opening bid price of just ¥1 yen.
https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/u1131054616
It wasn't the best of examples, with a scratched crystal, some minor rust on the bezel and (my pet hate) a very badly graunched case-back. It was fitted with a slightly odd strap, which looked like an (undersized for the 22mm lug width) 20mm 'aviator' type, fitted with a well-worn bund pad, to which a cheap plastic compass had been clipped (see photos).
I will admit to having placed a couple of low early bids on it, but later decided that it wasn't worth following through. As can be seen in my screen print, the auction ended on 7th April @ ¥15,500 Yen after 19 bids - equivalent to a mere £86.34 GBP. Cheap as it was, I didn't lose any sleep after letting that one slip through my fingers.
Indeed one cropped up on there a fortnight ago. It was a 5-day auction with a low start opening bid price of just ¥1 yen.
https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/u1131054616
It wasn't the best of examples, with a scratched crystal, some minor rust on the bezel and (my pet hate) a very badly graunched case-back. It was fitted with a slightly odd strap, which looked like an (undersized for the 22mm lug width) 20mm 'aviator' type, fitted with a well-worn bund pad, to which a cheap plastic compass had been clipped (see photos).
I will admit to having placed a couple of low early bids on it, but later decided that it wasn't worth following through. As can be seen in my screen print, the auction ended on 7th April @ ¥15,500 Yen after 19 bids - equivalent to a mere £86.34 GBP. Cheap as it was, I didn't lose any sleep after letting that one slip through my fingers.