Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

PHK at October 8, 2012 at 4:36 PM

Greetings to all. Another Paul here. This one's from Las Vegas. Yesterday I finally won a 7a38!! Albeit the rather common -7069. Seems in good nick (as you guys would say) we will see this upon arrival this week.  Now,...can I join the club? My collection includes three 7a28's. A -7029, a -702A DEFECKT(still can't find that model listed anywhere!!!) and cover your eyes, A Seiko 7A28-7120 RAF GEN 1 Military Issue pilot, navigator,ground crew Watch. Along with the second generation RAF Seiko 7T27-7A20. And a host of other Seikos 7T32's,7T62's. So can I stay? Paul in Las Vegas.

Welcome aboard (officially at last), Paul.   I noticed (from the number of visits you've made) - you've been lurking long enough. 

You could have introduced yourself as a 7A28 owner (without having bought your first 7A38), and we'd have welcomed you the same.

Though this 'Paul' thing could get a bit tricky. 

Although they're not all as active (as me) on the forum, I reckon that makes you at least the 5th member named Paul ! 

Update!, My 7A38 will arrive this Friday the Thirteenth!  See above. So then I'm in,... right?   Of course ("I'd never be a member of a club that would have me as a member!" Groucho Marx). Don't take me too serious because I work the graveyard shift, so I get a little Goofy.  Paul in Las Vegas, NO BLING, NO NATOS!

No bling in Vegas ???  That I don't believe, Paul. You gotta start looking for a 7A38-6109. I bet the pawn shops are full of them. 

PS - Surely you must have your 7A28-7120 Gen 1 and 7T27-7A20 Gen 2 on NATO's ? Nothing wrong with that, in my book. 

That is a NEGATIVE! All of my military watches are on one piece Maratac Mil spec or oem US military issue Marathon straps. That includes my brand new Pulsar RAF Gen2 chronograph. I personally can't understand the logic of a G10 strap as opposed to a one piece? You lose a pin, the watch still stays on. Wrist shot, 7a28 RAF. Do I look like I could do "bling"? (Trying my LJK Setright look.)

Hello all my name is Pete.

I have joined this forum (october 2012) after purchasing a new seiko ( New SEIKO FLIGHTMASTER SOLAR POWERED 100m ALARM CHRONOGRAPH SSC013P1). Having an older model seiko divers watch (98model 7N36-7A00) I decided to clean it up and replace the watch band and bezel. There in lie the problem after emailing Seiko support Australia and finding out my watch is classified as vintage, email stated  as follows:

"Unfortunately we do not supply parts to other than customers with established spare parts accounts with us.  The watch trade material house Smith & Smith will be pleased to assist you as may be possible.  However sadly it must be noted that it is quite unlikely they will be able to supply this part for that long discontinued model watch".

At this point I have not called apon Smith & Smith and ask those in the forum for their advise. After reading some posts I relise I may need to troll through Ebay. I am also in need of the rubber and steel circular spring under the bezel, I assume they may have once been all inclusive. Also would someone tell me if watches, Seiko or generally, are specific to certain areas. Kind regards Pete.

G'day, Pete and welcome aboard - though I suspect from the watches you've mentioned in your above post, you may have signed up to a watch forum which doesn't really meet your needs. We tend to specialize in Seiko 7Axx (and 7Txx) quartz chronographs here.

You might want to try the SCWF - though in my experience they're not always as helpful as they could be.

As far as Smith & Smith goes - give them a try. I'm in England, as you may have gathered, and I've dealt with Smith & Smith in Sydney a few times, in the past. Ask for Keith Doherty - he's a good bloke. 

As for some Seiko models being specific to certain geographies, yes - it's a fact.

There are the JDM versions which are produced specifically for the Japanese home market, normal worldwide export models, and sometimes specific US export models. Often the difference between two outwardly similar-looking watches can be as simple as the (alternate) language on the day wheel, or the location where they were manufactured (i.e. whether the dial is marked 'JAPAN' or not).

Seiko7A38 at October 15, 2012 at 6:25 AM

G'day, Pete and welcome aboard - though I suspect from the watches you've mentioned in your above post, you may have signed up to a watch forum which doesn't really meet your needs. We tend to specialize in Seiko 7Axx (and 7Txx) quartz chronographs here.

You might want to try the SCWF - though in my experience they're not always as helpful as they could be.

As far as Smith & Smith goes - give them a try. I'm in England, as you may have gathered, and I've dealt with Smith & Smith in Sydney a few times, in the past. Ask for Keith Doherty - he's a good bloke. 

As for some Seiko models being specific to certain geographies, yes - it's a fact.

There are the JDM versions which are produced specifically for the Japanese home market, normal worldwide export models, and sometimes specific US export models. Often the difference between two outwardly similar-looking watches can be as simple as the (alternate) language on the day wheel, or the location where they were manufactured (i.e. whether the dial is marked 'JAPAN' or not).

Thankyou site administrator for your reply and information. While I may take your advise I fell I can learn a lot in general pertaining to your specilised area of the Seiko brand. The information is friendly and you guys must be on to the fact that quartz chronographs are good to work on and reliable. So I may stick around out of interest and once again thankyou site administrator for the advice.

Kind regards Peter Knowles

Hi everybody, great forum you have here!

Yet another Paul here! How many is that? Been a member for a while but just have not had the time until now to get involved.

First of all I would like to say well done to Paul for all the great work he has done with the forum, good job mate 

I have a passion for nice watches and have been collecting watches, almost exclusively Seiko's for about five years or maybe more. Not just 7A's, although I do have a "few" now and I'm looking to get a few more to add to those.  I have not added to my collection during the last year or so until very recently as work and a house move have tied up a lot of my time so I've not had any time to look (this has saved me a fortune!! LOL)

I now have a little more time so I'm going to start looking for a few more to add to these ones I already have... 

A very quick snap in bad light I grabbed tonight of my 7A38's

Will be posting some pics of my other 7A's soon...

Paul 

Welcome back to the fold again, at last, Paul.   I reckon you've got some catching up to do - and not just on your reading. 

hi everyone,

I guess its taken me a decade to get here, for as long as i can remember i have wanted a black faced mechanical chronograph.  About 10 years ago i bought a Heuer Carrera 1964 re-edition that i couldnt afford, anyway once i found out it was 20 seconds out a day it had to go back so i started searching again.  It took me a while but i finally found a watch that was nearly perfect, a 7a28-7120 (it would of been perfect if it had date function.

Earlier this week i was stumbling around the net and ending up looking at the "Vulcan RAF" watch which led to the discovery of the 7a38. ive been having a look around and its a great looking watch.  On first impressions i fancy a 7270 with an open lugged case so a leather strap looks good.  I do like the look of metal braclets on watches so i want to try wearing one for a while before deciding if i prefer leather.

As well as wanting a 7a28 and a mechanical watch (can't really justify the price) after finding my raf seiko i am also interested in military watches and the gen 1 pulsar and gen 2 seiko are tempting.

Hi everyone,

After purchasing two seiko snkxxx's, doing some research and scouring through hundreds of watches I stumbled upon the beauty and elegance known as the 7A48. After more intense research and hunting I was led to this site and I was suprised at the amount of information and knowledge that this entire site/forum contains. I now have a Seiko 7A48-7030 on the way and am hoping to contribute to this site as well as obtain some knowledge from all you folks here. 

Once again .... Youkoso irasshai mashita. ようこそいらっしゃいました。

When site was initially conceived, my plans were limited to covering just the Seiko 7A38 calibre (and derivatives) ....

But as you've probably noticed, due to 'popular demand', we've since widened our scope to cater for more diverse tastes.

When your 7A48 arrives, please post some photos of it here: 

http://www.seiko7a38.com/apps/forums/topics/show/7319717-seiko-gives-you-the-moon-show-us-your-7a48s

Hi...!

I am passionesub from Milan...

I used to read in the past your pages...now I come back and say " hello ! " to everybody.....

I love any Seiko watch.

And looking for a " Vulcan yellow fabled 7A38... " !!!!!

Cheers !

Benvenuto Claudio. 

And looking for a " Vulcan yellow fabled 7A38... " !!!!!

Have you seen the 7A38-701B Vulcan in Volpiano ? 

http://www.seiko7a38.com/apps/forums/topics/show/7745184-7a38-701b-saa005j-the-mythical-yellow-faced-raf-vulcan?page=2

Hi all

My name is Chris. I am fairly new to the 7A28 / 7A38 bug, but i fear i may have been well and trully bitten already.

I have been collecting watches for many years now and i also repair and restore as well (as far as my limited abilites allow anyway!)

I have always had a soft spot for Seiko watches. I think they represnt amazing value for money and also great diversity in models as well. I have always been a huge fan of Seiko divers, both modern and vintage. Only recently i have started to be interested in the 7A chrono variants!

Really loving the site Paul, hope i can be a contributing member here. 

Hi chaps.

I'm Kev. On a few forums as kevkojak and know Paul from RLT where he seemed to be the Seiko chronograph go-to.

I'm a 7T32 collector but a Seiko fan in general and have some nice modern divers along with the chrono's.

Welcome aboard, Kev. 

You may have noticed for the benefit like-minded enthusiasts (I'll admit to owing a couple of 7T32's and a 7T59 myself) ....

We do have a 7Txx dedicated forum section: http://www.seiko7a38.com/apps/forums/show/6635515-7txx-general-discussion-area

Edit: I see you've found it already ! 

No flies on me Paul, got some of my snaps up quick-sharp! 

I've had a look at some of the 7A watches but they are a bloody minefield! Might dip my toe once I've bought all the 32's I'll ever need. 

Hi 

Rob here...i am a member on RLT and TZ, always loved the 7A**, nice to be a member of a dedicated forum.

Hope that Yema is still going strong Paul :-)

Cheers for now

Welcome aboard also, Rob. 

Yes, of course I've still got your little Yema N81W43 - and the photos you posted of it on RLT back in July 2009 still on file, naturally:

Here it is, bottom row; second from right in my Yema N8 collection box (taken last year - they've grown in number since):

Though I will admit that I came very close to replacing it at one stage. There was a mint, almost NOS example offered on one of the Indonesian blogspots last year: http://watchmeandyou.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/yema-chronograph.html  Incredibly that one actually sold for less than I paid you - a mere 600,000 Indonesian Rupiah (equivalent to about $65US) - and I missed it by a matter of days.