The ONE and ONLY WRUW thread - Part Deux !

[Seiko7A38]

Wearing this quirky little JAZ N8YZ669 Panda to start the bank holiday weekend.

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[Seiko7A38]

More bling in somewhat dubious taste. Wearing this Loris Azzaro H900 this morning. I just decided it needed an outing, but had forgotten what a pain these are to photograph, with their slightly domed crystals.

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[Seiko7A38]

Possibly not the most aesthetically pleasing choice for a blue SATurday. Wearing this fugly Kamatz 517000 this morning.

At the risk of almost repeating myself (I ran a search to check that I wasn't), here's a different blue Kamatz 517000.

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[Seiko7A38]

Wearing an old favourite today: my lightly modded stainless 7A38-7270. The non-original bracelet is a Seiko p/n Z337S. There's a lengthy explanation of how it gradually evolved in this earlier WRUW thread post from last August.

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[Seiko7A38]

Monday morning, mint matt black 7A38-7290 SAA095J. Getting this one out for the first time in a long while, reminded me of a tongue-in-cheek skit I wrote on the RLT forum many (13) years ago.

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[Seiko7A38]

Here's the all-stainless silver dialed German market equivalent, the 7A38-727A SAA131J. I've always found it difficult to capture the 726L dial's true silvery-white colour and subtle texturing in the same shot. Same as usual this morning.

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[Seiko7A38]

Here's the 'classic' stainless black-dialed 7A38-7270 SAA093J, which I'm sure most readers will be more familiar with. I've owned this particular NOS example for 11 years, since June 2011. Paid $176 for it, which at the time seemed expensive. My how times (and prices) have changed. (Not quite a re-post from the top of page 15 - this one's a better photo).

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[Seiko7A38]

That stainless case / bracelet was also available in off-white, without lume, as the lesser-spotted 7A38-727B SAA149J.

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[Seiko7A38]

It's Franken Friday - or should I more appropriately say Franken FRED Force 10 FREitag. This one seldom gets out of the collection box and less rarely worn - only on 'special' days, like Friday 10th, which don't come around very often. There are only two in 2021.

There's only one in 2022 - Today !!

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[Seiko7A38]

Wearing this NOS condition Yema Spationaute III Aragatz, fitted with a non-original REWA 'Rally' strap, on this glorious sunny blue SATurday morning.

No apologies for quoting myself. In fact, this is the third time this particular Yema Spationaute III Aragatz has appeared in the WRUW thread. Its previous outing was 6 months ago in December last year. It's one of my favourites.

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[Seiko7A38]

Seeing Bob Lambert post photos of his 7A38-701B SAA005J 'Vulcan' on Instagram and in yesterday's SCWF WRUW thread, reminded me that I hadn't worn any of mine in ages. It's got to have been over a year since I last posted a wrist shot of any of them. Indeed when I got this one out of the box, the date was showing SUN 22, before I corrected it using the quickset; so figure that out, if you can. This is the oldest example in my collection, in more ways than one, having been owned by me since November 2009 (although it's not the first one I ever bought). It also holds the distinction of having the earliest case-back serial number I've ever seen on any Seiko 7A38 model: 383261 - manufactured in August 1983.

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It's also the 'Vulcan' I use as my avatar, cropped from one of the German eBay seller's photos:

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[Seiko7A38]

Wearing my best (close to NOS condition) stainless 7A38-7000 SAA007J this morning.

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[Seiko7A38]

I try to check at least one of my watch collection boxes every week, looking for any watches that have stopped, or are losing time. This morning, I noticed this two-tone 7A38-728A SAA122J was doing the 'two-second two-step' (low battery indicator). So I hoicked it out and replaced it*. This is the same 'cheapie' I posted here in the WRUW thread last July.

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*Note to self. According to my records, I last replaced the battery in s/n 7N4751 on 26/12/2015, so unless I'd forgotten to document a previous change, the old Seizaiken #394 had done REMARKABLY well - having lasted nearly 6½ years !!

[Seiko7A38]

Delving into my 'Divers' collection box this morning, I came up with this mint-ish 7A38-7070 SAA031J.

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That wasn't the first (nor best) shot I took of it. In my haste (and without wearing my glasses), I quickset the date one day too far ahead (16th instead of the 15th). It was only when I was about to select this slightly crisper shot to upload that I realized my error. Seemed a shame to waste it.

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[Seiko7A38]

Another mid-size 'Diver' from the same collection box - a mint, almost NOS condition 7A38-7080 SAA033J.

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[Seiko7A38]

Wearing this 7A38-7050 SAA025J this morning. This watch holds a special place in my collection, being my first 7A38 'Diver', kindly donated gratis, by German collector Michael Rothe as a 'restoration project'. It's benefitted from a NOS bezel, SKX007 replacement crystal (hence the larger than normal polished bevel edge) and more besides.

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[Seiko7A38]

Wearing an old favourite on this unusually overcast SATurday morning - my very first, much loved Yema Spationaute III Aragatz 'bitza' with the mission flags dial. The shark strap fitted is a Colditz Pazifik (more details in this earlier post).

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[Seiko7A38]

Thought it was about time I did another red SUNday. The classic Cartier Ferrari Formula Cal. 531 model # F6094801.

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[Seiko7A38]

Spent time yesterday, trying to clean the tarnished 14K gold sections of my Jean Lassale Thalassa 7A74-019's bracelet. It's an improvement, but needs more work still. (That aluminium foil and baking soda trick worked well on parts of it).

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[Seiko7A38]

Something a bit topical, but not even slightly contentious. This morning I'm wearing one of my favourite 7A38-7020 Franken mods, which I built over 10 years ago, purely for my own enjoyment, without any intention of ever selling it.
The 709L dial is from a 7A38-7070 and the p/n Z1020S bracelet is normally found on a 6309-5750 Seiko 5. This watch is not a 'Prototype', by any stretch of the imagination, #thisisnotaRoyalOak and most certainly not for sale.

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Edit: Couldn't quite make up my mind which was the better of these two photos, so here's the other one I'd kept.

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