Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

I don't get the games the Italians are playing with these watches.

I had found a NOS version a few months back from an Italian seller. He had accepted my offer (admittedly it was slightly more than what is should have been) and advised he would come back to me in a few days with postage costs. Sure enough- he comes back and quotes me nearly $650AUD for postage to Australia!!!!!! I nearly fell over!!!!!

I told him I could ship a Fiat Bambino to Australia for that money- but he argued that as he agreed to the offer for "a good price" I should pay the exorbitant postage costs- I did not subsequently buy the watch.

Apologies for the story- but it goes back to my question as to what are they thinking????

Must be something in the pasta, Con. 

We already had another thread on the very subject, remember ?

http://www.seiko7a38.com/apps/forums/topics/show/8727066-are-italians-crazy-

Hey Paul- you're not wrong!!!

Most of the Aliens listed have been on eBay for months and remain unsold. You would think the seller would figure out they're not selling at these prices and reduce them accordingly if they were really interested in selling them. Maybe they're just showing off.

That  'wrong' one from a certain Welsh eBay seller still @ £999, immediately sprang to mind, when you mentioned 'showing off', Con.

10 offers summarily declined, last time I bothered looking at the listing. 1300+ views; 31 people watching it too, but nobody is buying.

What was it the ex-forum member 'Moonphase' wrote - on page 6 of the 'Craziest Prices' thread ? 

So what price shall I put one of my mint 7A28-7000's for? I have sold four so far, one of them fetched £1,400.... What do you think Paul? 

I spotted this NOS defective 7A28-7009 black chrome Aliens not long after it was first listed, on eBay in the States, earlier this week:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300979665937

Item Description: Seiko Quartz Chronograph Sports 100, model 7A28-7009. This unusual watch is in excellent condition, with no evidence of use. It is very slightly shopworn. The watch on this bracelet will accomodate up to an 8 inch wrist.

Running Condition: This watch is running and keeping time, with a new battery. The chronograph does not function properly. The sweep second hand does not move at all, and will require service to function. The 1/10th second chronograph hand does start and stop correctly, but does not reset to 0 - it probably just needs to be realigned. This watch has not been serviced recently, and is sold "as is" for parts, repair or restoration.

Wasn't sure whether to bother mentioning it in this thread. Thought I'd wait and see what price it made. The auction ended overnight. 

Answer $710 !! 

There've been a few black chrome 7A28-7000 / -7009 Aliens listed on eBay over the last couple of months, in varying conditions ....

These two, in less-than-ideal, well-worn condition, listed by Australian and Filipino eBay sellers fetched $346 and $325 respectively:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271260080590

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310776333090

But prospective sellers with anything like half-decent examples continue to ask ridiculous pie-in-the sky prices for them. 

Here's yet another NOS example offered by a different Italian eBay seller, who was asking $1800 - before it was withdrawn:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161112083265

The error in the listing ?  Probably the price !! 

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This used example, currently listed on eBay by another Italian eBay seller, Furia09 is on at least its 5th or 6th re-listing since August:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190945595788

He's re-vamped his latest listing. Previously, Furia09's listings for his 7A28-7000 / -7009 Aliens looked like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190938054896

If the title of his new listing looks vaguely familiar, it's because the Italian seller has copied it verbatim from Kineticsinc2012's listing

- which is still unsold @ £999 (since June - see previous page) - that's despite 13 offers so far and 51 watchers. Tell you anything ?

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I was prompted to write something by the appearance overnight of yet another NOS 7A28-7000 Aliens, listed by a Japanese seller:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350914620830

His asking price of $1650 is well up there with the best of the crazy Italians. As for the opening words of his title: ULTRA RARE .... 

As readers will probably have gathered by now, from the mildly sarcastic tone of this thread, I have about as much enthusiasm for the black chrome 7A28-7000 Aliens as I do for the 7A28-7120 RAF Gen. 1. So it's probably just as well that I don't collect 7A28's (at all).

I can't honestly think of a reason why anyone (other than perhaps a colour-blind or misinformed Alien movie buff), might ever want to own or wear one. But I was browsing another watch forum the other day and came across a link to an old blog.

Now, If you've got the car to go with the watch, it makes rather more sense:

http://mangusta-ma1266.blogspot.com/2007/07/friends.html

Just one small presumably unintentional typo at the top of that page:

In 1984, Seiko asked Giugiaro to design a range of futuristic watches based on their "Synchrotimer" launched in 1981 and powered by the infamous 7A28 Caliber.

ooo very nice, also chuckled at "worn by Sigourney Weaver in the movie Alien 1"

Must wear mine tomorrow now

Yeah, I spotted that too, when I re-read the article a second time, Daz. Just didn't want to look too much of a pedant. 

Incidentally, with regard to this part of my post earlier this morning:

I was prompted to write something by the appearance overnight of yet another NOS 7A28-7000 Aliens, listed by a Japanese seller:

 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350914620830

His asking price of $1650 is well up there with the best of the crazy Italians .....

Not only has the seller since revised his listing (title, description and photos) twice:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemRevisionDetails&item=350914620830

So that it now looks like this (but still the same listing number) - note 'RARE' without being 'ULTRA'.  (and why not ANALOGUE ?) 

I'd previously been a tad remiss in not bothering to copy and paste the seller's description. So here it is before he changes it again:

PLEASE READ ALL DETAILS BELOW BEFORE BIDDING!!! 

ULTRA RARE NOS CONDITION 7A28-7000 SEIKO! ALSO KNOW AS THE "BLACK RIPLEY" TO COLLECTORS FOR ITS LINK TO THE MOVIE "ALIENS" CHARACTER "RIPLEY" IN WHICH SHE WORE THE SILVER MODEL IN THE MOVIE!!

WATCH IS UNUSED WITH TAGS BATTERY REPLACED ALL FUNCTIONS WORKING!! THIS IS NOS STOCK NEVER WORN ONLY STORED!!

THE 2 YELLOW PUSHERS HAS SLIGHT CRACKS ON ONE SIDE ONLY!! THIS IS A COMMON THING WITH THESE WATCHES!! IT DOES NOT EFFECT THE WATCHES PERFORMANCE AT ALL!! EVERY SINGLE MODEL MADE OF THIS WATCH THE PUSHERS CRACK AND NEED REPLACING!

THESE ARE OFTEN AVAILABLE ON WATCH FORUMS AND AUCTIONS ETC!! THE PUSHERS ARE WORKING FINE!!

THE WATCH GLASS, CASE AND STRAP ARE MINT! I CANNOT FIND ANY NICKS OR SCRATCHES WITH THE NAKED EYE! FANTASTIC CONDITION FOR

A 1983 RIPLEY!! AUCTION IS FOR WATCH AND TAG ONLY!! NO BOX OR INSTRUCTIONS PRESENT!!!

The possibly significant part being: THE 2 YELLOW PUSHERS HAS SLIGHT CRACKS ON ONE SIDE ONLY!!

This morning, I received an email from Stuart (Ginny) which included these two sentences:

Speaking of Aliens, this guy is quick, Yahoo auction listing ending .....r107324497.

Now look at eBay listing 350914620830 (the small cracks in the pushers give him away).

Indeed they might: http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r107324497 

セイコー ジウジアーロ 7A28 エイリアン 黒 新品 デッドストック 

Were it not for the fact it was actually a 7A28-7009 with cracked pushers which sold four days ago for 83,000 Yen (approx. $845).

Sadly the Japanese eBay seller doesn't include a clear photo of his 7A28-7000 case-back, so we've no real way of telling anything. 

Just noticed he'd added these emphatic statements onto the bottom of his listing description:

NOTE THIS IS ORIGINAL AND GENUINE STOCK!!!! 

(((NOT A REPRODUCTION MODEL OF ANY KIND))!!!! 

WE DO NOT SELL ANYTHING BUT ORIGINAL WATCHES!! 

WE DO NOT REPLACE ORIGINAL WORKINGS OR UNITS WITH CHEAP REPLACEMENTS!! 

100% ORIGINAL

So there you have it.  Or for $1650, if you've got any sense - not. 

My apologies, Gentlemen. I need to correct something I wrote yesterday, regarding Italian eBay seller Furia09's 7A28 Aliens listing(s).

It started off here:

This used example, currently listed on eBay by another Italian eBay seller, Furia09 is on at least its 5th or 6th re-listing since August:

.... and continued:

He's re-vamped his latest listing. Previously, Furia09's listings for his 7A28-7000 / -7009 Aliens looked like this:

My confusion was partly due to the fact that I don't follow these things that closely - other than for commenting on them in this thread. So I don't always automatically add them to my eBay watching page, which is pretty cluttered up at the best of times. The main reason, though is the way that seller furia09 has set up (and re-lists) his listings - plural. Yes, he actually has two of them. The original listing (with smaller photos) comes up in a search on eBay.com, the other (priced at  £650, using the same title as Kineticsinc2012's listing) comes up in a search on eBay.co.uk. The older listing, which originally dates back to the end of August re-appeared overnight:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190952272417

The only way that I can see both listings at the same time, is by searching on Furia09's listings on eBay.it (Italy):

Based on people's experience in purchasing this model, what is everyone's thought as to a Fair Market Value NOS version of this watch?

I don't want to hear "whatever gets paid on the day is market" - moreover I want an idea as to what people's thoughts are as to a reasonable price for a NOS version.

Thanks

Con

Con.

Although I personally have no purchasing experience (nor any intention of ever buying a 7A28 Aliens) I would say that those few NOS examples which sold for around $500 (some for much less) in April (see bottom of page 1, into page 2) was a pretty reasonable price.

Thanks Paul

That's roughly where I thought as well

Seiko7A38 at June 14, 2013 at 5:33 AM

And they just keep on coming !! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221240658506

I must admit, I find it highly amusing when a seller tries to cram as much information / keywords into their listing title, as in this case ....

and gets it partially wrong. SSAY058 is of course the sales product code for the JDM 7A28-7000 Aliens (with the p/n 7A28 7000 dial):

This example may have a Speedmaster clasp and indeed the case-back appears to have a Japanese inspection sticker in place:

but, it also has the normal European export Chronograph Sports 100 dial (with part number 7A28 7100 printed at the bottom):

What you've always got to bear in mind, when interrogating Seiko Oceania's database, is that some 7Axx product codes are missing:

It seems the correct SPR0xxJ sales code for the black Aliens is one that's missing. But then this watch would fit neither of these exactly.

If this particular peculiar combination of JDM case and bracelet with SPORTS 100 dial sounds familiar ....

Scroll back up the page, where (referring to Vurdulakit's 7A28-7000, which he subsequently 'corrected' in a later re-listing), I wrote:

Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think this is a FRANKEN Aliens.

I believe it is a combination of a JDM (SSAY058) and European export model 7A28-7000 (note I didn't quote any sales code then.  )

It has a SpeedMaster Clasp and rectangular JDM Kanji inspection sticker - as opposed to the SEIKO SQ clasp and oval JWC II sticker.

But instead of the JDM dial with SEIKO CHRONOGRAPH QUARTZ - it has the export SEIKO QUARTZ Chronograph SPORTS 100 dial.

Interesting. 

Harking back to my posts of October 31st, regarding Japanese eBay would-be re-seller macgyverandpetes2000 7A28-7000 Aliens ....

I was prompted to write something by the appearance overnight of yet another NOS 7A28-7000 Aliens, listed by a Japanese seller:

His asking price of $1650 is well up there with the best of the crazy Italians. As for the opening words of his title: ULTRA RARE .... 

So there you have it.  Or for $1650, if you've got any sense - not. 

This afternoon I received one of those totally irrelevant eBay notifications ....

The Buy-it-Now price has been reduced from $1650 to 'only' $1399 ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350914620830

I must admit that I hadn't been following it particularly closely over the last 3 weeks - it was just there on my eBay watching page ....

But it seems he'd made another revision to the listing since I last wrote about it: yet another change of photos on 1st November. 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemRevisionDetails&item=350914620830

Amusing to note that the primary image is now one from the Yahoo Japan listing where he bought it.

bmwboris at August 30, 2013 at 4:28 AM

Hey Paul- you're not wrong!!!

Most of the Aliens listed have been on eBay for months and remain unsold. You would think the seller would figure out they're not selling at these prices and reduce them accordingly if they were really interested in selling them. Maybe they're just showing off.

Speaking of which ....

I stopped bothering to follow eBay auctions for 7A28-7000 Aliens some time ago, because they hold little interest for me.

But guess what came up as the most recent 'Newest Listing' on a worldwide search on 'Seiko 7A28' this morning ? 

That 'NOS' (but with cracked pushers) Aliens offered by Japanese would-be profiteering re-seller Macgyverandpetes2000. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201027234534

Current opening bid price of $799 is less than half his original $1650 Buy-it-Now price.

If it wasn't for the cracked pushers, it might just be worth that in today's crazy market. 

And yet another black 7A28 Aliens crawls out from behind the ducting on the Nostromo.  

Or more correctly, gets found in a stockroom and is dusted off to be listed on eBay with a sky-high speculative asking price:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/380861721040

Extremely rare collectable hard to find original Seiko watch, it is the Aliens watch as it was worn in the now famous 1986 Aliens movie. the watch is new never worn, we have replaced the battery few times and the watch ahs been sitting in our special collection showcase. The watch has no scratches on the case and band which is very hard to find specially with black case, the only minor scratch is in the case back due to change of battery. The pictures showing on this page are actual photos of the watch itself. Watch always kept time and runs perfectly.

If the $1400 Buy-it-Now price wasn't ridiculous enough, as a UK buyer, you'd have to factor in the GSP import charges:

As usual, the listing description includes the oft-repeated false claims:

1). As you can see for yourself from the number of NOS examples that have cropped up in this thread, it is anything but rare.

2). The black chrome version of the watch did not appear in the 1986 movie Aliens. Sigourney Weaver wore the silver version.

I suspect, rather than as stated:

“Never worn this was desplayed at our shop for many years, owner never wanted to sell it but now he said let it go!! ...."

It was the appearance of this nice condition used (genuine) 7A28-7000 Ripley Aliens on eBay a couple of days ago which prompted their sudden decision to sell. Although that example is priced @ $1300, a good number of this rarer model have sold for over $1000.

I've just had a look at that 7A28-7000 listing.

Although it says:

"Pushers were replaced with original Seiko NOS items as the originals had aged."

I don't think these are Seiko original parts - they look too square. I suspect someone has manufactured them (and done a good job of it).

Also:

"One screw that holds the pushers block to the watchcase is missing but the one in there holds it on well."

I wonder if whoever replaced the pushers had the same problem I had when removing the pusher block, and damaged the screw when trying to undo it. Hmmmm.