Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

This decent looking example of the 7A38-7050 SAA025J was listed on Yahoo Japan earlier today as a 3-day auction, with an opening bid price of 10,000 Yen. But there's a slight 'gotcher'.


https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/l693593864


Amusing how the seller has obscured the last 3 digits of the case-back serial number in his close-up shot, but overlooked to do so on the other photo. Zooming in, squinting hard, I reckon it could possibly be 430090. But who really needs it ? The watch is much easier to identify from another unique non-standard feature.

Google translates the Japanese seller's typically forthright description as follows:


As soon as I saw that incorrect replacement JDM SPEEDMASTER clasp, I got that uncanny feeling of Déjà Vu ....

Note the sentence in the description which translates as: "It was previously handed over as a used item at an auction". Indeed, this same 7A38-7050, fitted with a SPEEDMASTER clasp has previously appeared on Yahoo Japan auctions, way back in April 2016. Naturally, I'd documented it in the old forum's 7A38-7050 SAA025J model thread at the time.


I suspect, given the previous asking price in April 2016, it may have taken a while to sell. Unfortunately, having scrolled through the remaining pages of the old forum's thread, it appears I overlooked to post another update when it did.

Nowadays, when I fancy something on Yahoo Japan, I use the Buyee proxy bidding service (as many other Gaijin do). Sometimes I'll just add an item to my watching page out of curiosity. Other times if there's a 7Axx I really want, I bid. As I already have a couple of 7A38-7050's in better condition than this example, I wasn't really bothered, but I thought I'd place a low starter bid to get things rolling. To my mild annoyance, I was met with an unusual error message.

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/l69 ... n&rc=yaucc


So I emailed Buyee support and this reply subsequently arrived in my inbox:


When I later refreshed the Buyee screen the caption in red had been updated to read:


Presumably, the Yahoo Japan seller has made a setting in his listing that blocks bidding using proxy services, possibly not just Buyee, but others like Japamart, etc. and hence all international bidders. What he's also done, which seems a strange decision in the circumstances, is he's switched off Automatic Extension. Which means whoever snipes last and highest will win at the scheduled finishing time, instead of it going into 'overtime' as Yahoo Japan auctions regularly do. Those two factors are the reason why I've titled this thread as 'Potentially cheap ....'.

Bad call on my part. Having garnered over 50 watchers, there appeared to be plenty of interest in that 7A38-7050, from both Gaijin and Japanese punters. The 3-day auction finished on schedule (no extension), a few moments ago, selling for ¥55,211 Yen after 19 bids, equivalent to $501.15 USD / £360.70 GBP. Certainly not cheap, by any means. However, as I correctly predicted, the winning bidder sniped it in the closing seconds.

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/l693593864

That 7A38-7050 which sold on Yahoo Japan, rocked up on Instagram yesterday, posted by eclectic US watch collector Erik Strickland, who'd uploaded an extensive (nearly 2 hour long) impressive SOTC video on YouTube, 18 months ago. His Instagram post has already garnered over 800 likes in just over 12 hours, but then Erik has 12.3K followers.



How can I be so certain it's the same 7A38-7050 ? Apart from the timing, Erik's third photo is a bit of a giveaway.

I'd left a comment on Erik's Instagram post earlier today, asking whether he was planning to change the non-standard SPEEDMASTER clasp (for the correct SQ 7-hole adjustment one). I've only just read his reply, which goes: 'Maybe yeah. This is a funky one, with handset and clasp not as-per-usual'. His also mentioning the handset caught me off guard. But he's absolutely right ! I hadn't spotted the discrepancy before (nor quickly checking my post on the old archived forum, had I noticed when it was previously listed on Yahoo Japan back in April 2016). The colours and relative positions of the sub-dial hands on his example have been reversed, compared to the accepted norm.