Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

This well-worn 7A38-7070 was listed on eBay this morning, by an imaginative UK eBay seller, as a Buy-it-Now for £275.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-Sei ... 3388758369


The seller has tacked 'Collectible Ghost bezel' onto the end of his listing title. It doesn't need more than a cursory examination of his photos to see that the bezel insert has been virtually obliterated through abuse and carelessness. It's absolutely covered in scratches and graunches, but what little trace of the enamel remains is most definitely black.


His description is good for a chuckle or two. Perhaps 'Corpse bezel' might be closer to the truth than 'Turning Ghost'.


Like so many other expressions used by watch enthusiasts, the term 'Ghost bezel' emanates from the Rolex community. Quickly googling it, the first result returned by Bob's Watches Rolex blog provided a definition:


Indeed, here is the perfect example of a true 'Ghost bezel' on a Seiko 7A38-7070, belonging to Simon 'Sir Alan', who posted it on page 3 of the old forum's Replacement 7A38-7070 bezel replacement ideas thread in December 2013.

I note with amusement that the UK eBay seller has since revised his listing, editing both the title and description:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-Sei ... 3388758369


Message to seller: No Sorry. It's not faded either. But the word you're looking for begins with 'F' and ends with 'd'.

The hapless would-be UK eBay seller of that well-worn 7A38-7070, with a completely knackered bezel insert, eventually ended his listing a week ago, because of an error - presumably in the over-ambitious pricing.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363388758369


This morning I received a couple of new search result notifications from the saleroom.com - amongst them was this:

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auct ... 6901800985


He's given up with eBay and chucked it into a sale at his at his nearest local auction house: Michael J. Bowman (Newton Abbot is just 7½ miles from Torquay). Opening bid is £90, with a rather more conservative auctioneer's estimate of £150 to £200 (subject to an additional 26.94%, including commission and VAT). There's no mention of the allegedly haunted bezel - just that it needs a new battery. Check the wording of his eBay description - evidently he hasn't bothered.

Remiss of me, I'd overlooked posting the auction result. Last Saturday, the well-worn 7A38-7070, with a knackered bezel insert (and also in need of a new battery) was bid to a hammer price of £190. Adding buyer's premium and 20% VAT brings the total selling price to £241.20 - so despite being £30-odd quid less than the seller was asking on eBay, certainly no bargain, given the condition.

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auct ... 6901800985

When I started this thread, back in May last year, I probably could have chosen a better topic title. Sure as eggs is eggs, that 7A38-7070 (with or without its knackered 'Ghost' bezel insert) was bound to come back to haunt me one day. That battered bezel insert is probably one of, if not the worst I've ever seen - and absolutely crying out for a Yobokies' repro' replacement. (See page 3 of this old forum thread for more details).

I don't think I've mentioned them in this forum section before, but one of the less conspicuous (by their level of activity) would-be profiteering UK eBay re-sellers on the periphery of my radar is beautique_timepieces. Unlike most other re-sellers, they tend to purchase their stock in trade at UK online auctions, often through the-saleroom.com, rather than eBay like so many others. They're also quite active on Instagram, which is evidently their preferred selling platform.

In January this year, they posted this 7A38-7070 for sale on Instagram:



There was no price stated. The photo was franky abysmal, hence probably the reason it picked up only 19 likes. Other than signs of lume degradation, I couldn't match any distinguishing features to anything they might have purchased and thought no more about it. That was until this morning ....

This morning they listed this 7A38-7070 on eBay, with a Buy-it-Now price of £399.99. It's obviously fitted with a Yobokies' repro' bezel insert, although they describe it as being a 'nos bezel insert'.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-7A38-7 ... 3868208739


All it needed to identify it this time, as being the very same 'Ghost bezel' 7A38-7070 from last year, were just two of the seller's seven photos. In their primary image, you can clearly see the deep nick in the end of the watch case at bottom right. Needless to say, the case-back serial number 466664 matches.

Naturally they also gave it the obligatory parallel plug on Instagram.



I had to go out this morning. By the time I got home, they'd already pulled the eBay listing as item no longer available.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203868208739


Presumably they made a nice little profit for the cost of a $30 repro' bezel insert, avoiding paying eBay fees to boot.

Hmm. Perhaps beautique_timepieces was a little too hasty pulling that short-lived listing. The 7A38-7070, with Yobokies' repro' replacement bezel insert is back on eBay again this morning, re-listed as if nothing had happened.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-7A38-7 ... 3869786099

Regardless the price they may have paid (£241.20 at auction last July) and cost of work expended on it, that 7A38-7070 was already over-priced for the condition @ £399.99. Overnight, beautique_timepieces showed their true colours as just another would-be profiteering re-seller, revised the listing, increasing the Buy-it-Now price by £100 to £499.99.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-7A38-7 ... 3869786099

Almost predictably, regardless of the £100 price hike, profiteering UK eBay re-seller beautique_timepieces ended that re-listing earlier this afternoon, once again as allegedly no longer available.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203869786099


Oddly, it's still shown as being 'FOR SALE' on Instagram - but now without any price stated as before.

Beautique Timepieces may still not have updated his Instagram post as 'SOLD', but it most certainly has been, because it's since rocked up again on Instagram on the wrist of its new owner, halfway round the world.



I wasn't initially certain whether it was the same 7A38-7070, but the new owner, who'd bought it as a 'birth year; birth month' watch, confirmed so in a DM exchange. He was disappointed to learn it was a Yobokies' repro' insert and divulged not only the price he paid, but WRT to Beautique Timepieces commented:

Not a pleasant experience with this seller anyway, so will avoid doing business with them again.

I've noticed that he's also posted a couple of photos of it on WatchUseek, where it looks like he was experimenting with fitting a leather strap, in place of the original bracelet:

Note that there's also a small discoloration on the Tachymeter scale near '200' - something I hadn't spotted before.

The ding in the LH corner of the bottom of the watch case, by which I'd previously identified the watch, is more clearly visible in his wrist shot (on the leather strap).