Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

By funny coincidence, earlier today I received an email from an ex-work colleague, Vaughan, who I hadn't heard from in a few years. He attached a wrist shot of the 7A38-706A I'd given him six years ago, as a combined 'Thank You' and birthday present (see my previous post on page 27). He still wears it and it's going strong.

I'm not sure if he remembered, but today is also my birthday, so what else should I wear this afternoon, but one of my 7A38-706A's (naturally, fitted with the same TSS Watchworx Aerosport Mk2 dark blue strap).

Something to brighten up this dull overcast morning - a 7A38-701B 'Vulcan'. 

Giving my JDM 7A38-6050 SJS058 a quick Sunday afternoon outing. I'd forgotten what a bugger it was to photograph with the reflections off that domed crystal. Let's just say I took 'a few' shots before I eventually settled on this one - and it's still slightly out of focus.

I really don't expect any sympathy, but I have to admit, that in owning such a large collection of 7A38's, lately I find myself constantly having to replace their batteries. I went to put that 7A38-6050 away yesterday and noticed this 7A38-6070, two slots along, had just started doing the 'two-second two-step'. So I've just done this one.

7A38-6030 SJS028 - another from the same collection box, getting a brief outing.

Swapped that this afternoon for this JDM 7A38-6040 SJS038, which is much safer to wear, No need to worry about rubbing wear, being stainless. This watch has been 'homeless' since I fettled it and fitted the better bracelet. I need to reorganize my 'Divers' watch collection box to slot it in next to its black chrome coated sibling.

Time to post one of my favorites to, 7A38-706A. This will dovetail nicely with the 7A38-706A’s above. 

A quick, but not quite 'as received' shot of my newest incoming Yema N8 Flygraf.

The postman delivered it this morning - and it becomes my 9th N8 Flygraf. I had promised myself that after N°8 (a good number) I would stop buying the damned things. Not only was this a case of I really didn't need another Yema N8 Flygraf, but with hindsight I probably should have left this one for someone else.

I guess I got sucked in by a combination of reasonbly attractive price, an unmarked bezel and that aged lume on the 'Mercedes' hands, which contrasted with the cream lume batons. The US eBay seller had described it as 'untested and sold AS IS', whereas had he been more truthful, he might have written 'tested and doesn't work (at all)'. It came without a battery, so I unscrewed the case back and fitted one ....

.... Flipped it over, naively expecting it to work. Nada. Absolutely dead as a Dodo. Nothing. Not a flicker from anything. I stripped it down and although I wouldn't describe the movement as squeaky clean, there was no evidence of any previous battery leak. I tried swapping the PCB from a handy donor that was on the bench. Hey Presto - it instantly sprung into life - with full functionality. As a sanity check, I then fitted the suspect PCB, which looked pristine to the naked eye, back into the donor and that became dead as a Dodo.

The US eBay seller obviously deals in watches (something I should have checked, before hitting the Buy-it-Now button).  He may have listed the watch 'AS IS', but it certainly wasn't 'untested'. Somebody had clearly attempted to get this watch going again. The sweep second hand, 30 minute counting and 1/10th second hands are all off their marks. The bosses of the latter show signs of having been pulled. But more annoyingly, all three sub-dials have been marked, by some clumsy botcher who didn't bother using a dial protector. I am seriously unimpressed !

Here's a quick and literally dirty almost as received shot of my recently acquired allegedly ex-BAF issued (Bangladeshi Air Force) Orient J39701-70.

(Not quite 'as received', because I had to fit a clasp extender to get it on my wrist).

Yema Spationaute III Aragatz ('Cadran Drapeaux') this afternoon.

A Q&D almost 'as received' shot of my most recently acquired Orient J39701-70, with the 1985 Indianapolis 500 logo'd dial, which had been a very long term 'Grail' of mine. I picked it up from the Royal Mail sorting office depot yesterday morning, after what had been effectively nearly an 8-year wait !

With many thanks, once again, to Japanese forum member Daisuke, for his selfless assistance in helping me finally obtain an example of this rare variant. I'll write in up in more detail, in the respective Orient J39 thread in the next couple of days.

I like that Indy 500 watch, 1985 “spin and win Sullivan" 

I was taking some other wrist shots this afternoon, but decided instead to post this one of my 7A38-6010. 

I have always liked this model because of the 38mm size. It fits perfectly on my wrist.

Kind of glad it didn’t sell… 

I assume those other wrists shots you were referring to were these, Paul. 

With many thanks once again, Paul, for acting as 'middle man' (in providing a most excellent forwarding service) and also for re-assuring me about the bracelet size. 

Thankfully, it fits my wrist rather better than it did yours. 

Gentlemen. What better way to start the new month, than by presenting my most recently acquired (and certainly most expensive to date) non-Seiko branded 7A38 - the ever so slightly blingy FRED Force 10.

There was I imagining I might need to sully it, by fitting a 95p clasp extender.

I just love my “abundant sunshine” wrist shots.  

Here's a Q&D almost 'as received' shot of my second FRED Force 10, on the optional leather strap, which I collected from the local Post Office this afternoon.

After a nerve-wracking session at the workbench yesterday, I've now nailed the first FRED Force 10 7A38 back together again. It probably doesn't look that different to the uninitiated, but it's been fitted with a new dial, Tachymeter ring and replacement movement - and is now keeping good time. It didn't lose a second overnight. 

Came to grab one of my favourite 'grab and go' watches - this Yema Spationaute III Aragatz 'beater' this morning and found it had stopped.  New battery required.  It could probably do with a quick clean too. 

It's not as if I really needed another one, but I've just spent this morning building myself another almost 'new' 7A38-7029. I'd had this salesman's sample case a few years - the last one I'd bought from US eBay seller 49ronnie (the late Ron Canda, R.I.P.). It came with a short bracelet with the usual butchered ends. I'd tentatively earmarked it to build into a Franken 7A38, but at the end of October, last year, Hungarian eBay seller georgepapay listed a NOS Seiko p/n B1171S bracelet (typically for him, without clasp), which I bought. Besides, with the prices even rough examples of stainless 7A38-7020 and 7A38-7029 are fetching nowadays, thanks to the current (b/s) 'Royal Oak' hype, it seemed foolhardy not to correctly utilise the components to build a pukka watch. Couple of gratuitous wrist shots.

Was taking stock of my stainless 7A38-7020 / -7029's this morning, opened up the collection box, which holds the bulk of them, and saw this 7A38-7020 Franken, which I built years ago, next to them. I thought it deserved a long-overdue outing.