7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

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7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

Post by Seiko7A38 »

This topic is intended as a continuation / footnote to my last post in the old forum's 7A38-724A SAA086J model thread (specifically about serial numbers).

Earlier this morning, this two-tone 7A38-724A in average worn condition, was listed by an Italian eBay seller as a 5-day auction with an opening bid price of 149.99 Euros. There's nothing remarkable about it, other than its serial number. :geek:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SEIKO-VINTAG ... 4390847149

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Here's a screenshot of that last post from the old forum thread (best I can recreate it here, without HTML):

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No great surprise, the manufacturing serial number of the 7A38-724A listed earlier today also begins with 734xxx. When I first saw the seller's photo of the case-back, I initially misread the last digit as '8'. It's not, it's actually '3'. So this one is 734323 - and I've just been gazumped for the lowest serial number seen to date. :cry:

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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Remiss of me, I omitted to record how much that 7A38-724A, listed on eBay Italy in March, had sold for. :oops: Of course, with eBay now actively deleting all ended listings after 60 days, its record disappeared into the ether months ago. :x No matter, there have been a couple more since. :)

I've long held the belief and (rightly or wrongly) stated that the 7A38-724A SAA086J was an Italian market model, based on the fact that they only ever appear offered for sale, listed on eBay Italy. As that maxim still holds true, I guess it's a fairly safe assumption. 8-)

This well-worn partly functional 'head only' was listed a week ago, by an Italian eBay seller. He doesn't mention the full model number 7A38-724A in either his title or description.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-cronog ... 4136502616

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It's currently got a dozen more watchers besides myself. I was initially interested in it for a couple of reasons: on first spotting it, I thought the 719L dial (which is unique to this model), might be in better condition than that of my original example, which has stained sub-dials, Alas not. Studying the remainder of the photos reveals that the upper part of the top dial plate is stained, having acquired a pink-ish hue. Plus the hands and batons lume are badly degraded. The other thing that caught my eye was the case-back serial number: 734285, which might have been the lowest seen to date.
Seiko7A38 wrote: Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:39 am So this one is 734323 - and I've just been gazumped for the lowest serial number seen to date. :cry:
Except I also had my eye on another earlier example (in more ways than one). ;)

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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

Post by Seiko7A38 »

This rather more attractive example in decent used cosmetic condition, was listed on 30th August, by a 'James Bond' keyword spamming Italian eBay seller, as a 7-day auction with a laughably unrealistic opening bid price of 400 Euros. :roll: I didn't bother taking a screen print of the listing at the time and initially just right-clicked and saved the seller's photos and added it to my eBay watching page, mostly out of curiosity.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Cronog ... 4131272600

Seiko Cronografo Quarzo 7A38-724A James Bond 007

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However, I did happen to notice the case-back serial number: 734283 (two digits earlier than the aforementioned 'head only'), making this the lowest 7A38-724A serial number seen to date. That said, even though this model is my favourite variant among the 7A38-724x / 7A38-725x / 7A38-726x case family, I couldn't honestly justify buying another example based on its earlier serial number and especially not at that ridiculously inflated price. Out of devilment, I decided to make the seller a lowball (but realistic) offer of 180 Euros, knowing it was likely to be rejected.

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The seller responded with a counter-offer of 350 Euros. I can't remember whether I declined it or simply ignored it and allowed it to expire. Either way, it's academic, because the seller subsequently ended this listing, because of an error - presumably in the over-optimistic pricing. :roll:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334131272600

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With other irons in the fire, so to speak, I'd almost forgotten all about it. Then yesterday morning, out of the blue, I received an unsolicited message from the Italian eBay seller allesde38. It was in Italian and literally translated as:
Since you made me a proposal of 180 euros for the Seiko Bond, I can still give it to you for 200 euros.
I didn't cotton on straight away (because obviously he'd ended the listing). But a search on his other items revealed that he'd re-listed it later the same day - in fact just a matter of 10 minutes after ending the previous one. Except he hadn't re-listed it in the conventional manner; he'd created a completely new listing and in doing so had cocked-up the model number in the title TA38-724A - hence the reason I hadn't seen it before (it hadn't come up in my search results). :roll:

Note that he's listed it as a Buy-it-Now this time, rather than an auction, with the price increased to a risible 500 Euros and the shipping cost has also been increased from the previous 30 Euros to 45 Euros (which I drew to his attention).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-TA38-7 ... 4139002894

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After a further lengthy exchange of messages, a deal was struck. Nuff said. It's on its way; posted here this morning. :arrow:

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I googled that quaint old rural Poste Italiane office and looked it up on Street View out of curiosity. The eBay seller had stated the item location as being Sassari, Italy. I'd incorrectly assumed that was on the Italian mainland and thought no more of it until he emailed me the tracking number, which showed it posted from a small commune, Suni on Sardinia !
So I suspect it may take a little longer to arrive than usual. :?

Belated Edit: The Italian eBay seller did eventually get round to ending the listing the following Monday, about the same time the package was passing through Poste Italiane's Centro Scambi Internazionale hub in Milan. Hopefully, despite the implausible reasons given, it will arrive in one piece !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334139002894

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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

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Seiko7A38 wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 1:16 pmSo I suspect it may take a little longer to arrive than usual. :?
In fact it didn't take quite as long to arrive as I'd expected. The postman evidently attempted to deliver it on Thursday morning last week. Somehow I missed his knock at the door and found a 'Sorry we missed you' card on the doormat. :roll: Too busy doing other stuff on Friday; didn't manage to find time to go to the Royal Mail sorting office collection point and so I scheduled the re-delivery online for Saturday morning.

It's far from mint, but in slightly better cosmetic condition than my previous example which I'd purchased in May 2014. Here's a side-by-side shot of them, with the newly acquired example on the right:

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However, as received, the bracelet was short of a couple of adjustment links and thus too small to fit my 7½" wrist. :x Slightly annoying but not too difficult to overcome. I'd remembered (from over 10 years ago), that the 7A38-724A's p/n G1334C bracelet was virtually identical to the p/n G1105C used on the two-tone 7A38-7060 (and A and B) , save for the end fixings. Indeed I'd written to that effect in the old forum's 7A38-724A SAA086J model thread in October 2018. 8-) Here's a much older photo I posted in the thread, which I actually took back in August 2011, of my original 7A38-724A, fitted with a p/n G1105C bracelet, with its original well-worn p/n G1334C loose alongside.

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So it was just a matter of 'robbing' a couple of adjustment links, which were donated by a gash spare p/n G1105C. :) Did that yesterday, so here's a slightly different (brighter lit) wrist shot to the one I just posted in the WRUW thread.

rsz_p1760027-crop.jpg
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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Had it not been for the Italian eBay seller sending me that unsolicited message, I probably wouldn't have seen or bought this. Incidentally, I paid him 185 Euros - not 200. ;) Apart from having acquired a better condition example, the other upshot is that I now hold the dubious distinction of owning both the lowest (734283) and highest (734587) case-back serial numbers I've seen on any 7A38-724A's. :mrgreen:

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At the risk of repeating myself (and to put that into context), per my earlier quote from the old forum thread ....

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That now gives a serial number range of 304 units. That said, since I started saving photos of them from eBay listings, in December 2010, including the head only parts watch currently listed on eBay Italy, that's still only a total of 7 examples I've ever seen (all listed on eBay Italy), which certainly qualifies the 7A38-724A SAA086J as a relatively scarce variant - especially when compared to the likes of the common two-tone SAA098J and gold-tone SAA100J 7A38-7260 variants.

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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 1:07 pmThis well-worn partly functional 'head only' was listed a week ago, by an Italian eBay seller. He doesn't mention the full model number 7A38-724A in either his title or description.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-cronog ... 4136502616

7A38-724A-Stainless+Gold-SilveryWhiteFace-HeadOnly-eBay-Sept2021-Listing.png
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It's currently got a dozen more watchers besides myself.
Just a quick footnote to this thread. Checking my eBay watching page, I see that well-worn partly functional 7A38-724A, listed at the beginning of this month by an Italian seller, finally found a buyer earlier this morning. Good luck with that !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334136502616

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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

Post by Seiko7A38 »

I suppose I should add this one to the thread. ;) This 7A38-724A in average worn condition was listed yesterday evening by a 'James Bond' keyword spamming Morrocan eBay seller, with an over-ambitious Buy-it-Now price of $350.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Seik ... 3747062602

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Seiko7A38 wrote: Mon Sep 20, 2021 12:31 pm.... I now hold the dubious distinction of owning both the lowest (734283) and highest (734587) case-back serial numbers I've seen on any 7A38-724A's. :mrgreen:
This one has a case-back serial number of 734286. Close but no cigar. :P

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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

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Not surprisingly, given the unrealistic Buy-it-Now asking price, that 7A38-724A still remains unsold 4 months later. :roll: Another more reasonably priced example in average worn condition, was listed yesterday morning by another Italian eBay seller as a one-day auction, with an opening bid price of 140 Euros.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-SEIK ... 4137386605

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AFAIK, I was the only person watching it and it went unsold:

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The seller sensibly re-listed it as a 7-day auction this morning:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-SEIK ... 4138659884

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Like all previous examples seen to date, this 7A38-724A has a 734xxx prefix case-back serial number. However this one now holds the distinction of being the lowest number by some margin - it's 734200.

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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

Post by Seiko7A38 »

I'm a little surprised that 7A38-724A remains unsold. The Italian eBay seller had previously re-listed it with the opening bid price reduced to €120 Euros, still without success. This morning it's down to €100 Euros.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-SEIK ... 4168181303

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I can't justify buying another one, even for the dubious honour of owning the lowest serial number seen to date ! :P

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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

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Yesterday, the Italian eBay seller ended the above listing three days early - as Item no longer available.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204168181303

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I'd noticed he'd recently also listed it in parallel on the Italian classified site, Subito. Checking that advert, it's now showing as 'Venduto'.

https://www.subito.it/abbigliamento-acc ... 870404.htm

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Re: 7A38-724A SAA086J Serial Number Sequence

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Seiko7A38 wrote: Fri Jul 01, 2022 11:24 am I suppose I should add this one to the thread. ;) This 7A38-724A in average worn condition was listed yesterday evening by a 'James Bond' keyword spamming Morrocan eBay seller, with an over-ambitious Buy-it-Now price of $350.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Seik ... 3747062602

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Seiko7A38 wrote: Tue Nov 01, 2022 10:46 amNot surprisingly, given the unrealistic Buy-it-Now asking price, that 7A38-724A still remains unsold 4 months later. :roll:
I suppose as I'd included it in the thread, I should add an update accordingly. That 7A38-724A listed by the Moroccan eBay seller in June last year appears to have finally sold yesterday, for a somewhat reduced Buy-it-Now price of $180. The listing hasn't been ended, as such, but it's showing as 'item out of stock'.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403747062602

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Edit: Just over a week later, the Moroccan eBay seller subsequently ended the listing as 'item no longer available':

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