Allegedly 'NOS' 7A38-7270 Watch Case listed on eBay

[Seiko7A38]

I thought I'd briefly mention this supposedly 'New old stock' 7A38-7270 stainless watch case, which was listed on eBay on Christmas Eve, by a relatively new Canadian seller Timely Parts, for a couple of reasons.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186856006557

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New old stock 7A38 (and other) watch cases crop up on eBay from time to time. They were manufactured by Seiko as spare part replacement sub-assemblies, intended for use swapping out damaged cases (as opposed to salesman's sample cases). Sometimes they were produced at the same time as the watches were going down the line. Those of you familiar with the stainless 7A38-7270 SAA093J will know they were manufactured in fairly large batches in 1987 and 1988, hence they have 7xxxxx or 8xxxxx prefix case-back serial numbers.

This example is interesting because it has a serial number of 210009, indicating it was produced much later, long after 7A38 manufacturing had ceased, in January 1992 ! I remember seeing an example of a similar very late serial number on a gold-tone 7A28-7020, which had been fitted with a service exchange case. It was posted somewhere in a thread on the old archived forum, but I haven't managed to find it at the moment.

The shame about this supposedly 'New old stock' watch case is that it obviously isn't new anymore, having been messed about with. The seller states in his description that it's missing the bezel to case nylon gasket (shown in this photo) ...

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He fails to mention that it's also missing the black plastic Tachymeter ring (which would be sandwiched between the case and bezel - and also the crown and stem, which usually come supplied with such watch case assemblies.

[Seiko7A38]

I must admit, I did briefly consider buying it (because of the unusual case-back serial number), but the seller's typically greedy asking price of $180 CDN (approx. £100 Quid), especially in the light of its incomplete state, deterred me.
Where might I have used it ? The first 7A38-7270 which sprung to mind was this one - the one with the dinged case that I purchased off eBay Germany on Christmas Eve 2014 (10 years ago to the day) for less than a Tenner. Although that 'NOS' case would be an improvement, as I wrote previously, the watch would lose its unique identity.