I've bought myself another 7A38-6000 'Dinky Diver' !

[Seiko7A38]

I've just gone and bought myself another 7A38-6000. Don't ask me why. The two examples I already had in my vast collection should have been more than adequate. One is almost mint / 100% correct and the other is my much-loved original 'Dinky Diver', fitted with a vintage Seiko 'Beads of Rice' bracelet.

rsz_p1640038-crop.jpg (243.3 KiB) Viewed 412 times

If you've looked on eBay recently, you'll know that there are currently 5 examples listed on there, varying in price from a mere €549 Euros for the cheapest (fitted with a non-original replacement bracelet) to a whopping €2500 Euros being asked for a NOS example by an Italian eBay seller, which incidentally has remained unsold for over a year.

In my defence, I didn't pay anything like those figures for the one I've just bought. Nor would I ever consider paying that kind of money. For those who didn't see it, it came from a UK online auction by the-saleroom.com (although bidding was also available through liveauctioneers.com). The actual auctioneers were Sterling Vault of Worthing, West Sussex.
It was Lot # 55 in their sale of 29th May.

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auct ... df00d33965

7A38-6000-(Divers)-Stainless-PandaFace-WrongBracelet-thesaleroom.com-May2025-SterlingVaultAuctioneers-Lot55.jpg (172.81 KiB) Viewed 396 times

As you can see, the auctioneer's estimate was a risibly low £40 - £80. Their description wasn't bad (by auctioneer's standards), but they got the model number slightly wrong and didn't spot that the watch was fitted with a non-original replacement Seiko bracelet (which I did). Nor did they mention the engraved case-back ....

7A38-6000-(Divers)-Stainless-PandaFace-WrongBracelet-thesaleroom.com-May2025-SterlingVaultAuctioneers-Lot55-Description.png (30.71 KiB) Viewed 396 times

.... Although that was clearly visible in the last of their photos. These are the five photos from the listing:

rsz_7a38-6000-divers-stainless-pandaface-wrongbracelet-thesaleroomcom-may2025-sterlingvaultauctioneers-lot55-1.jpg (235.14 KiB) Viewed 393 times

rsz_7a38-6000-divers-stainless-pandaface-wrongbracelet-thesaleroomcom-may2025-sterlingvaultauctioneers-lot55-2.jpg (252.1 KiB) Viewed 393 times

rsz_7a38-6000-divers-stainless-pandaface-wrongbracelet-thesaleroomcom-may2025-sterlingvaultauctioneers-lot55-3.jpg (232.76 KiB) Viewed 393 times

rsz_7a38-6000-divers-stainless-pandaface-wrongbracelet-thesaleroomcom-may2025-sterlingvaultauctioneers-lot55-4.jpg (241.36 KiB) Viewed 393 times

rsz_7a38-6000-divers-stainless-pandaface-wrongbracelet-thesaleroomcom-may2025-sterlingvaultauctioneers-lot55-5.jpg (228.22 KiB) Viewed 393 times

[Seiko7A38]

If you click on the link I posted earlier, you'll come to an updated version of the listing page. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking quickly enough to take another screen print as the lot was ending and now it states (which I personally find bloody annoying as the winning bidder): Hammer Price: Auctioneer has chosen not to publish the price of this lot.

Trust me. The hammer price was £200. Luckily I saved this email notification.

7A38-6000-(Divers)-Stainless-PandaFace-WrongBracelet-thesaleroom.com-May2025-SterlingVaultAuctioneers-Lot55-£200.png (74.03 KiB) Viewed 390 times

Perversely, the LiveAuctioneers.com online listing (which I used to bid once, early on, just to test it out) shows £200.

7A38-6000-(Divers)-Stainless-PandaFace-WrongBracelet-LiveAuctioneers.com-May2025-SterlingVault-Lot#55-Ended-Sold-£200.jpg (178.17 KiB) Viewed 368 times

In all honesty, because of the incorrect bracelet and engraved caseback, I was in two minds about it, and if anybody had outbid me at that point, I probably would have let it go. To that £200, one needed to add on further charges for buyer's premium, commission, bidding fees and VAT, of 27.60% making £55.20. UK shipping by next day courier (APC Overnight), was another £20 on top, bringing the grand total to £275.20. Still not a bad price for a 7A38-6000 in today's market.

Dunno if I should publicly admit to this, but over the weekend, while I was mulling over my purchase, I did think about just sticking a new battery in it and putting it on eBay for £500 Quid or so. Would that have been naughty of me ?

[Seiko7A38]

The courier delivered the package at lunchtime on Tuesday. I was going out for the afternoon, so I did little more than open it and check the contents. First impression was that the non-original replacement Seiko bracelet fitted was quite chunky and didn't really suit the watch. The following morning I removed it, to make unscrewing the case-back easier.

rsz_p1950050.jpg (231.59 KiB) Viewed 361 times

Had it been a more conventional 'president' 3-link style, closer in appearance to the original Seiko p/n G1157S, I might have considered re-fitting it, but I disliked those prominent ridges on the centre links. In its defence, the bracelet feels very solid for one of folded link construction; was full length and would easily have fitted an 8" wrist. It also looked as if it had never been worn since it was fitted (compared to the watch head, which was a little grubby).

rsz_p1950051.jpg (239.02 KiB) Viewed 361 times

In contrast, the bracelet end pieces are the usual flimsy pressed items. Their ears are stamped 4502-G.E, but so far I haven't had any success trying to discover which model this bracelet correctly belongs to. Google is absolutely no help whatsoever, instead returning dozens of results for King Seiko 4502, or the 4502 caliber.

[Seiko7A38]

The auctioneer's description included the statement: Condition report: Watch is not currently running. Naturally, I assumed the usual flat battery, but purchasing any quartz watch on this basis is always something of a gamble. The watch's Varta #394 battery must have run out years ago, because it had started to leak (solids, rather than acid), but thankfully it had done no damage to the movement and I quickly cleaned up the few bits of detritus with a couple of dabs of Rodico. In truth, when I came to replace the watch's flat battery, I hadn't checked my camera. Not having used it in months, its battery was equally flat. So these photos were taken a few hours later, after I'd charged it up.

Here's the 600L dial / movement removed while I was cleaning the watch case and greasing the pushers:

rsz_p1950052.jpg (240.83 KiB) Viewed 353 times

New Seizaiken #394 battery fitted:

rsz_p1950053.jpg (241.09 KiB) Viewed 353 times

The impressions left by the ears of the original Seiko G1157S bracelet in the underside of the lugs could probably be easily polished out. Unfortunately the same can't be said of the deeply engraved dedication on the case-back.

rsz_p1950054.jpg (245.1 KiB) Viewed 353 times

Here's a couple of flash-lit shots of the re-assembled watch head. Apologies for the harsh shadows.

rsz_p1950055.jpg (243.79 KiB) Viewed 353 times

rsz_p1950056.jpg (243.21 KiB) Viewed 353 times

Cleaning the film of grease off the crystal has revealed a light but annoying scratch, about ⅛" long, right in the centre.

[Seiko7A38]

Having decided not to re-fit the incorrect bracelet that it came with presented me with virtually the same dilemma I faced back in November 2010, when I asked: Strap Suggestions For A Dinky Diver, Anybody ? on the RLT watch forum.
I was pleased with that particular outcome, but didn't want to go down the same route. That afternoon, I went digging deep (right to the bottom) of my spare strap drawer. I even managed to dig up a couple of straps (one a very coarse navy blue nylon and the other a hideous blue silicone dive strap) which I'd tried and rejected nearly 15 years ago.

rsz_7a38-6000-divers-stainless-whitepandaface-mine-failedstrapexperiments-p1030671.jpg (234.1 KiB) Viewed 342 times

I did briefly consider trying the navy blue nylon again, but continued rummaging and think I've found something better. Back in February 2011, I bought 4 NOS Yema 18mm leather straps from a French eBay seller for €9 Euros apiece: 1 black and 3 dark blue, of which I still had two left unused. I never previously considered fitting one to a 7A38-6000, because by then, I'd already found my strap solution in the form of the 'Beads of Rice' bracelet. They're typical ribbed 'double jonc' style, but in a very supple leather. A similar appearing strap was used on the fugly Yema N71Z36 America's Cup.

rsz_p1950057.jpg (241.42 KiB) Viewed 337 times

One of them was missing its Yema wire loop buckle. I remember having 'robbed' it to fit to one of my Spationaute III's. So I had to dig through my spare buckles to find something suitable. I'm not wholly convinced yet, but I think it works well. The blue leather is a reasonable match for the bezel insert and the silvery grey stitching matches the dial colour.

rsz_p1950058.jpg (244.99 KiB) Viewed 332 times

rsz_p1950059.jpg (227.37 KiB) Viewed 332 times

[Seiko7A38]

Here's a couple of wrist shots - slightly different to the pair I just posted in the WRUW thread.

rsz_p1950065-crop.jpg (244.33 KiB) Viewed 304 times

rsz_p1950067-crop.jpg (241.37 KiB) Viewed 304 times

[Seiko7A38]

In contrast, the bracelet end pieces are the usual flimsy pressed items. Their ears are stamped 4502-G.E, but so far I haven't had any success trying to discover which model this bracelet correctly belongs to ....

It had been bugging me, so I'd asked the question over on SCWF a couple of days ago: Seiko bracelet ID help please.
Someone kindly replied this afternoon. It's used on the fugly 7N43-8299 quartz diver, which has 4 dial colour variations.

7N43-8299-Stainless-Brown.jpg (180.1 KiB) Viewed 282 times

Where I'd been going wrong in my interrogation of Seiko Oceania's database was in my assumption that the bracelet's part number was G4502S (the old format). It's actually 4502JG.

7N43-8299-SeikoOz-WhereUsed.png (32.08 KiB) Viewed 282 times