Snagged a cheap 'Made in Korea' gold-tone 7A38-7060

[Seiko7A38]

There's a thread on the old archived forum covering the Made in Korea version of the gold-tone 7A38-7060. It started off as an amusing 'spot the difference' Q&A session, intended to test members' powers of observation, but I later converted it into a 7A38 model specific thread. It documents the subtle differences between this locally produced variant, for the South Korean home market, and the standard export model 7A38-7060 SAA018J. These being (from memory, off the top of my head): No JAPAN text nor Suwa symbol at the bottom of the dial; English / Kanji day wheel, case-back stamped KOREA SV and a different bracelet stamped with p/n RB022.

They're probably quite common in Korea, but (assuming you know what to look for) you don't see them for sale on eBay (nor Yahoo Japan, for that matter) very often. This is the last example I can remembered seeing, just over a year ago:

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I'd always fancied adding one to my collection, purely for the 'curio' value. I've seen a few over the years, but passed on all of them, usually because of excessive gold plating wear (per the example above) or lack of their original bracelets. There was also the one mint example that got away (a long time ago).

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In the end, I settled for a rather poor substitute. This heavily re-plated example was listed by a Canadian eBay seller Montre48 (an associate of the notorious US eBay seller Vividlily) in early December 2018. What transpired is pretty much covered by my couple of posts below (the full story is on page 2 of that thread).

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It was subsequently listed on Catawiki in April 2019. More by luck than judgement I ended up winning the auction.

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Whoever carried out the re-plating obviously went to a great deal of trouble. The polished and brushed sections of the case and bracelet were properly re-finished. However, their misguided efforts were unfortunately a bit excessive and they mistakenly plated the underside of the bracelet. On an original watch, the underside of the bracelet should be bare stainless (as should also be the ends of the links).

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Then there's the yellowy colour of the blingy gold plating, which looks like 18K, whereas Seiko SGP is more akin to 14K.

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What disappointed me most was that the KOREA SV case-back stamping had been almost completely obliterated.

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So even though I had this re-plated example to fill the void in my collection, I continued looking out for an original ....

[Seiko7A38]

This average worn condition example of the 'Made in Korea' version of gold-tone 7A38-7060, with typical level of wear to the bracelet and clasp's plating, was listed on eBay in the States at the end of March, as a 7-day auction with a low opening bid price of $19.95. It was listed as a non-runner and the seller's description included full disclosure. Note the slightly distorted ill-fitting bracelet end piece (on the 6 o'clock side) in the seller's first photo. There was also a minor inconvenience of eBay's dysfunctional GSP program blocking my bids, but I have a workaround for such situations.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3988619694

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This watch is "Pre-owned". I have not replaced the battery, therefore, I have no idea if it will run or function properly. Outside watch and band has cosmetic wear, scuffs, scratches, nicks, discoloration. There is an additional number on the backside, 750331. I cannot remove the back so I have no idea of the condition inside. Selling as is for parts or repair. I'm listing several vintage watches and will gladly combine shipping for a reduced shipping fee. Bidder to pay $5.95 shipping.

I'd kept an eye on it throughout the week and had almost decided, based on its worn condition, that if bidding went past the $100 mark I'd let it go. By the afternoon of the last day, bidding had reached $100 and the high bidder had stacked another 'safety' bid above that - a foolhardy pointless strategy, designed to ward off other potential bidders.
I stayed up till after Midnight on 1st April to place my winning snipe bid, so I guess that makes me an April fool.

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[Seiko7A38]

To circumvent eBay's covert embargo agreement with Seiko, and to enable me to bid on it, I used another eBay account set up with a US shipping address - that of my long-time friendly forwarding agent, forum member 'Paul in Vegas'. Unbeknown to me at the time, Paul was otherwise preoccupied with some rather pressing family matters, so quite understandably, didn't mail it on for another week. The postman delivered Paul's re-labelled package this morning.

The watch is exactly as described. I fitted a new battery (there was no sign of any prior leakage) and it fired up straight away, with full functionality. Nice clicky pushers too. I treated it to a new case-back gasket and spring-bars as a matter of course. While I was at it, I re-shaped that bent bracelet end piece so that it fits better. What surprised me was how spotlessly clean it was. Not a trace of the usual wrist cheese / gunge between the lugs, nor in the bracelet end pieces.

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Obviously there's a fair bit of rubbing wear to the gold plating on the 12 o'clock side of the bracelet and the clasp, that I was already aware of from the seller's photos and description, but for $110.50 (and no VAT), I really can't complain.