The ONE and ONLY WRUW thread - Part Deux !

[Seiko7A38]

Chilly out this morning - why my wrist looks a bit pink. Wearing my second string gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J today.

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[Seiko7A38]

Black Friday watch. Wearing my almost NOS condition 7A38-7080 SAA033J this morning. I'm not going to the Sales !

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[Seiko7A38]

This day, 34 years ago, Saturday 26th November 1988, this watch, a pre-production prototype Yema Spationaute III, was strapped to the wrist of French astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien. Today I'm wearing it, on the same kevlar / velcro strap.

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Along with Soviet cosmonauts Aleksandr Volkov and Sergei Krikalev, the three were about to blast off from Baikonur cosmodrome on Soyuz TM-7. The Franco-Soviet segment of this expedition to the Mir space station (EO-4), codenamed Aragatz, effectively only lasted until 21st December 1988 - 25 days. However Krikalev and Volkov, who were also wearing Spationaute III's stayed aboard Mir until 27th April 1989 - a duration of 151 days. Hence the case-back inscription: vol longue durée.

[Seiko7A38]

Anybody following this thread may be wondering what happened - why I stopped posting wrist shots in the WRUW thread. I hadn't been well for most of last year and to make matters worse, last November I developed a frozen shoulder, which made it almost impossible to take wrist shots. It was just too painful to raise and rotate my left arm (per my usual pose). It's still stiff, but a lot better than it was. Prompted by the latest example of crass stupidity and unashamed greed on eBay (see this post), I decided to dig out my almost mint 7A38-6000 SAA039J, which incidentally cost me €306 Euros in December 2015. Amusing to ponder the potential 1000% profit I could make if I sold it now.

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[Seiko7A38]

Today's wrist shot is a couple of months overdue (for the reason stated in my previous post). It's one of two recently acquired Seiko branded 7A38's - an almost mint stainless 7A38-7060 SAA015J 'James Bond', which I purchased from a Fellows online auction back in February this year. (See this thread).

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[Seiko7A38]

This is my other recently acquired Seiko 7A38, which I hadn't written anything about previously. I bought it off eBay Italy in March this year and other than checking it over and adjusting the bracelet to fit my wrist, it's remained tucked up in its Seiko 'Sport Tech' presentation box. May I present my almost mint example of the stainless 7A38-7140 SAA047J.

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[Seiko7A38]

I'm gradually getting caught up. This is my newest acquisition. Another Orient J39701-70 with the 1985 Indianapolis 500 dial logo. I bought it comparatively cheaply off Yahoo Japan at the beginning of May. See these couple of posts. It's in very good almost mint condition, but unfortunately came with a rather short bracelet, so I had to redistribute a few adjustment links from my other J39701-70's (and a spare gash bracelet) to get a comfortable fit on my wrist.

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[Seiko7A38]

Something of a 'blast from the past' today. I'm wearing an almost mint example of the stainless 7A38-7020 SAA009J.

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I shouldn't really use this thread as my soapbox, railing against the ridiculous prices being asked for this desirable model on the back of the 'Royal Oak' hype. But I'm going to. Currently there are three examples of this watch listed on eBay by greedy German and Italian sellers, with ludicrous asking prices of €1150, €1299 and €1450 Euros. None of them are in as good condition as mine, which I paid €226 Euros for, winning an auction on eBay Germany, almost 5 years ago to the day. It's documented here on page 12 of the old archived forum's Show and Tell - Your newest incoming 7A thread. That's less than 20% of the cheapest current eBay asking price. So is it down to supply and demand ? Inflation ? (The watch retailed for £199 in 1987). Nope. It's just plain old-fashioned Greed (and crass Stupidity on the part of anyone willing to pay these prices). IMHO. Nuff said.

[Seiko7A38]

Wearing this very tidy little-worn example of the two-tone 7A38-7020 SAA010J this morning.

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[Seiko7A38]

Another one from the same collection box - a common-or-garden US Market two-tone 7A38-702H SAA014J.

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[Seiko7A38]

I haven't done a customary blue SATurday spot with one of my Yema Spationaute III's in a long while, so I thought I'd dig out an old favourite, which goes by the nickname 'Grande Bleu' (for obvious reasons). Bought this one off Yahoo Japan, way back in December 2011. It's gone through a couple of strap changes, starting off this thread on the old archived forum, ending up with this very blue Fleurus shark strap.

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[Seiko7A38]

Wearing my pristine white-dialed Indianapolis 500 logo'd Orient J39701-70 in anticipation of the Monaco F1 Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 later today.

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PS - I just realized I've duplicated the last two wrist shots from exactly a year ago.

[Seiko7A38]

Wearing this almost mint example of the stainless 7A38-7000 SAA007J on this Late Spring Bank Holiday Monday morning. This one's been in my collection since March 2009. Other examples (only one in better cosmetic condition) have come and gone, but this remains a firm favourite of mine. Couldn't make up my mind between these two shots so ....

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[Seiko7A38]

Wearing this NOS condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J this morning. This isn't the same watch at the top of the page, but the better condition example I bought in an online auction in late June 2021. This thread refers.

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[Seiko7A38]

Wearing this very tidy, almost mint example of the 7A38-7010 SAA001J this morning.

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[Seiko7A38]

I don't know whether I would class the 7A38-7010 I was wearing this morning as 'my best' example. It was undeniably the costliest (I got involved in a bidding war and paid over the odds to win the eBay auction, back in August 2016). Not sure whether I should publicly admit to having 4 of these in my collection: two were bought off eBay Germany back in 2011 for reasonable prices; the very expensive one above, which is in almost mint condition and another very tidy example I bought off eBay UK in May 2019 for half the price. Simon Wilkinson serviced it for me a year later. It's still running well.

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How to tell them apart ? The cheaper / serviced one has a tiny ding in the Tachymeter bezel inlay to the right of 140.

[Seiko7A38]

Next one in this sequence (and next slot along in the collection box) is my almost mint condition 7A38-701A SAA003J.

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[Seiko7A38]

Wearing this tidy example of the 7A38-701B SAA005J 'Vulcan' this morning. Yes, it would have been the logical watch to follow on from yesterday's 7A38-701A, but when I put that one away, I noticed this one in the adjacent slot was doing the 'two-second two-step' - indicating impending battery replacement. So that's what I did earlier this morning.

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[jamesam]

Received my "like new" Yema N81W63 still with the tag yesterday. I only wore it for a short time today after having a jeweler insert a battery this afternoon.

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[Seiko7A38]

Continuing my run of blue SATurdays, this morning I'm wearing one of my favourite Yema Spationaute III Aragatz's with the limited edition mission flags dial. The blue shark strap is a Morellato.

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