7A38-7020 SAA009J with UEFA Euro '84 case-back ?

[Seiko7A38]

I'm deliberately starting another thread here, rather than tack it onto the existing thread in the eBay section, tracking the spurious activities of profiteering German eBay re-seller quartzwerk, which lately include adding a Seiko 'Official Timer' pin to the sale, inferring that the grossly over-priced 7A38-7020's he's selling are in some way connected to the 1984 UEFA Euro '84 football tournament (which incidentally was held in France - not Germany).

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Here's a re-post of my scan of pages 17 and 18 of the 1984 Seiko UK Sport Tech brochure (that he's been 'borrowing'):

Seiko-April1984-UK-SportTechBrochure-Pages1718.jpg (227.74 KiB) Viewed 7142 times

Note the sentence: The Analogue Quartz Chronograph with Day-Date (SAA009J) has been selected as the official watch of referees for the 1984 European Championship in France. That's followed by: Every year until the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Seiko will also be serving as Official Timer ....

It got me thinking. I've certainly seen a few two-tone 7A38-702A's with MEXICO '86 engraved on their case-backs over the years. This was the most recent, a rather poor example which popped up on Reddit only a couple of months ago.

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But NEVER have I seen a stainless 7A38-7020 SAA009J with UEFA Euro 84, or even FRANCE '84 engraved on it's case-back.

[Seiko7A38]

In theory such a thing may exist, at least according to this newbie poster, who started this thread on SCWF 4 years ago.

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Thing is, despite being prompted twice for a photo of the case-back, by myself and another poster ....

7A38-7020-SAA009J-UEFA-Euro84-SCWF-LastPosts.png (49.72 KiB) Viewed 6946 times

He never did come back with a photo and that's how the thread ended two days later.

Somehow, I have my doubts. He claimed that the watch was engraved on the back with UEFA and the UEFA logo.

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Apart from the complexity of engraving the logo, where could you put it, when there's already a Seiko Double Wave logo right in the centre ? Plus there's the timing - late 1983 when Seiko were just starting to ramp up 7A38 production, so they certainly wouldn't have entertained it. They didn't even bother too much for the 1966 World Cup in Mexico.

There's also that definitive statement in the 1984 Sport Tech brochure: The Analogue Quartz Chronograph with Day-Date (SAA009J) has been selected as the official watch of referees for the 1984 European Championship in France - implying that they were issued with the standard production model.

[Seiko7A38]

Coming to think of it, when Seiko did eventually decide to produce a couple of official commemorative limited editions for UEFA Euro '88 (in December 1987), in the forms of the two-tone 7A38-728B (SAA136J) and 7A38-728C (SAA138J) ....

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7A38-728C-Stainless+Gold-WhiteRomanFace-UEFA-Euro88-P1510097.jpg (153.01 KiB) Viewed 7117 times

.... their case-back stampings were rather more basic - with no pretence of a UEFA logo (despite the available space):

7A38-728B-Stainless+Gold-GreyFace-UEFA-Euro88-P1600080.jpg (229.6 KiB) Viewed 7117 times

7A38-728C-Stainless+Gold-WhiteRomanFace-UEFA-Euro88-P1510093.jpg (142.2 KiB) Viewed 7117 times

[Seiko7A38]

But NEVER have I seen a stainless 7A38-7020 SAA009J with UEFA Euro 84, or even FRANCE '84 engraved on it's caseback.

So I remain extremely sceptical as to whether it ever existed. Unless of course you've seen one and can post a photo.

[Seiko7A38]

I wasn't sure whether to post this here, or in the other recent (sticker) related topic. It certainly didn't warrant starting yet another thread. The reason I decided to tack it onto this particular thread will hopefully soon become apparent.

Let me start by saying that I've never made any secret of the fact that I'm not a fan of the so-called 'beautiful game' (and all the ugliness that goes with it). I dislike almost every aspect of football; that's despite Seiko's involvement as Official Timer to the European Football championship. So I'm not about to start collecting football memorabilia am I ? Well, I must confess to having recently splashed out 4.50 Euros on a sticker.

I posted this photo from a recently ended German eBay auction for 12 Seiko 'Official Timer' stickers in the other thread.

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That second auction which ended a week ago and sold for a mere €1.50, was for a collection of 12 Seiko Official Timer stickers and not only included the Eishockey WM '83 sticker (bottom right), but also the UEFA Euro '84 sticker (second row left). I'm surprised that quartzwerk hadn't latched onto that one before - as a cheaper alternative to his pins.

That certainly was a bargain buy for somebody. In my above quote, I'd failed to point out that collection also included a UEFA Euro '88 SEIKO 'Official Timer' sticker (top right). But it gave me an idea and I started looking for one. It wasn't as easy to find as I might have expected. Like the UEFA Euro '84 sticker, which features the stupid 'Peno' rooster mascot, most Euro '88 stickers feature 'Berni' the bunny rabbit. Here's a typical example listed on eBay UK, asking £11.99 FFS.

UEFA-Euro88-Sticker-Berni.jpg (25.82 KiB) Viewed 6721 times

After spending an hour or so searching on eBay Germany, I found and purchased one. It arrived in this morning's post.

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It's not as if my UEFA EURO 88 stamped 7A38-728B SAA136J and 7A38-728C SAA138J required any further validation ....

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But I guess this makes it 'Official'.

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[Seiko7A38]

Getting back to the original subject this thread ....

I'm deliberately starting another thread here, rather than tack it onto the existing thread in the eBay section, tracking the spurious activities of profiteering German eBay re-seller quartzwerk, which lately include adding a Seiko 'Official Timer' pin to the sale, inferring that the grossly over-priced 7A38-7020's he's selling are in some way connected to the 1984 UEFA Euro '84 football tournament (which incidentally was held in France - not Germany).

Here's a re-post of my scan of pages 17 and 18 of the 1984 Seiko UK Sport Tech brochure (that he's been 'borrowing'):

Seiko-April1984-UK-SportTechBrochure-Pages1718.jpg (227.74 KiB) Viewed 6383 times

Before I go any further, I should probably mention that profiteering German quartzwerk wasn't the only eBay seller to 'borrow' my scan of pages 17 and 18 of the 1984 Seiko UK Sport Tech brochure. His repeated use spawned a number of imitators and the inclusion of 'UEFA' in the titles of 7A38-7020 listings (besides the hackneyed 'Royal Oak' misnomer) has since become more commonplace. One instance that really made my p!ss boil were a couple of re-listings by Sri Lankan eBay seller vint-watches. He first listed what's best described as a grotty well-worn stainless 7A38-7020 (complete with mis-aligned bezel) in June this year, asking ridiculous prices ranging between $500 and $800. He used my scan in all his listings, but for two re-listings in September, had the gall to make it his primary image !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1984-UEFA-SE ... 4173272207
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1984-UEFA-SE ... 4187514272

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It was last seen at the beginning of this month, when the latest re-listing was ended as allegedly no longer available.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1984-UEFA-SE ... 4238102761

7A38-7020-Stainless+Grey-eBay-Oct2021-UEFA-(re-listed)-Ended-NLA.png (46.07 KiB) Viewed 6362 times

[Seiko7A38]

Having done a photoshoot of my UEFA EURO '88 stamped 7A38-728B SAA136J and 7A38-728C SAA138J with the 'official' Seiko Official Timer sticker, last month, I toyed with the idea of doing something similar with one my better stainless 7A38-7020 SAA009J's. I'd purchased a pristine 1984 Seiko Sport Tech brochure off eBay as far back as December 2011 (that I took my scan from); it seemed the logical thing to use as a background, so last week I dug it out of my library.

However, composing a photo using it wasn't as easy as I'd imagined. I was originally going to place the watch directly over the catalogue image on page 18. Apart from the problem of what to do with the rest of the bracelet, they weren't the same size, so instead I decided to place the watch along the edge of the page. Lighting issues apart, capturing the two complete pages, fine text and the watch, all in focus at the same time, proved impossible. After literally dozens of failed attempts, this was the best I achieved before giving up.

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This close-up shot of the brochure's catalogue image and watch alongside was little better.

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[Seiko7A38]

Readers may have noticed that the Seiko Official Timer / Euro '84 logo with 'Peno' (the host nation's rooster mascot) on the left side of page 17, was slightly closer in size to the diameter of the watch head. I did briefly consider trying to photograph the watch next to that but opted for something else. Instead I belatedly bought myself another sticker.

Seiko-UEFA-Euro84-OfficialTimer-Sticker-eBay(Germany)-Sept2021.jpg (119.1 KiB) Viewed 6321 times

I'd spotted one listed on eBay Germany, round about the same time I found my UEFA Euro '88 sticker and added it to my eBay watching page. It didn't look particularly good in the seller's poorly lit photo - appearing to be slightly yellowed with age. I carried on searching but couldn't find another. There are quite a few similar design stickers listed on eBay, but with Bata (the official sponsor of Euro '84 - like this), rather than Seiko. In the end I decided to take a chance ....

[Seiko7A38]

The UEFA EURO '88 sticker arrived in this morning's post. Thankfully, its received condition was far better than belied by the German eBay seller's dingy photo. Unfortunately, today the natural available light is also rather dingy, so I resorted to using flash. The sticker was slightly curled and refused to lay flat. Here's the best of a few less than stellar photos:

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While I was at it, I thought I'd try that earlier idea. Came out better than I'd expected.

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[Seiko7A38]

Note the sentence: The Analogue Quartz Chronograph with Day-Date (SAA009J) has been selected as the official watch of referees for the 1984 European Championship in France.

An anorak level after-thought. I've previously omitted to mention that my 1984 Seiko Sport Tech brochure came with a UK retail price list. Bearing in mind that both watches: 7A38-7020 SAA009J and the two-tone 7A38-702A SAA012J are featured in the brochure (the latter on page 3), the price list begins and ends with a rather disappointing statement:

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The stainless 7A38-7020 SAA009J that I've used for these photos is my best example, purchased off eBay Germany in May 2018 (for less than half the price they sell for nowadays). If you're looking for one, eBay Germany, where they seem to be most abundant, is still probably the best place to look. Naturally, that example has an English / German Day wheel.

That said, two years prior to that, I picked up two other examples off eBay UK (incidentally for much lower prices). But (if according to the statement on Seiko's 1984 price list) they weren't available in UK, how did they end up here ? Both those watches have English / Spanish Day wheels - rather than the default English / French you'd expect on a UK market model. So it begs the question: Did Seiko actually produce the 7A38-7020 SAA009J with an English / French Day wheel ? Surely, if they were dishing them out to football referees at Euro '84 (in France), they must have done.

[Seiko7A38]

I've been searching (in vain) for photos of any referees or other officials at Euro' 84 wearing a Seiko 7A38-7020 SAA009J.

Evidently I wasn't trying hard enough. Though I'll excuse myself on the grounds that these couple of photos of French referee Michel Vautrot (who officiated at Euro '84) were taken 2 years later at the UEFA European Cup Final in May 1986.

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If you zoom in on the original photos, he's still wearing his 'official' Euro '84 7A38-7020 SAA009J. Having got lucky with those two, I've continued searching Getty Images. Here's their selection of photos of English referee George Courtney.

Again, I didn't find anything from Euro' 84, though other photos suggest George may have worn his 7A38-7020 SAA009J up until 1992 (when he retired). This photo was taken at the 1990 FA Charity Shield match between Liverpool and Manchester Utd. Pity about the positioning of the watermark, but it's still clear enough to be conclusive.

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That's followed by: Every year until the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Seiko will also be serving as Official Timer ....
I've certainly seen a few two-tone 7A38-702A's with MEXICO '86 engraved on their case-backs over the years.

George Courtney was also a referee at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. I'm fairly confident the watch he's wearing in this photo, taken at the medal presentation after the third place play-off game, is a two-tone 7A38-702A SAA012J.

rsz_georgecourtney-gettyimages-79653414-2048x2048.jpg (238.2 KiB) Viewed 6228 times

[Seiko7A38]

... though other photos suggest George may have worn his 7A38-7020 SAA009J up until 1992 (when he retired).

Here's a couple more lower quality heavily watermarked photos of George Courtney taken in the 1990's, courtesy of Alamy.com. In the first, Paul 'Gazza' Gascoine isn't trying to steal his watch. In the second he looks hot and bothered and about to blow the whistle. Nice shot of the watch though. It's certainly seen some service in its 'official' capacity.

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PS: I found this recent (July 2021) blog article about George Courtney - he's just been presented with another watch !

[Seiko7A38]

I wouldn't say it was entirely wasted, but I've spent this morning googling images, trying to find a photo of a referee at the 1984 UEFA European football championships, who was actually wearing a 7A38-7020 SAA009J - without success. Here's Wikipedia's list of the Euro '84 officials (I'm presuming that's just the referees, not including the linesmen):

UEFA-Euro84-Officials.png (15.82 KiB) Viewed 6189 times

One thing is certain and that's when Czeck Vojtech Christov refereed the final between France and Spain, he wasn't.

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If you zoom in on this fairly high resolution photo (again © Getty Images), he's wearing a rectangular gold watch fitted with a black leather 'Racing' strap. However, both linesmen appear to be wearing the 'official' Seiko SAA009J watch.