# Seiko 7a38 Vulcan Chronograph Found



## bigfer (Jul 27, 2009)

Ok, as you can see this is my first post so i'm a watch virgin & just to prove it i wear a casio g-shock 1980's classic (the ice hockey puck one). Anyway i have had instructions to clear out the old mans trinkets & to cut a long story short, i appear to have found a seiko 7A38 chronograph yellow face. Having googled it to try to see if it was worth keeping, i have come across all the stuff about the vulcan legend etc etc.

can anyone suggest the best way to off load this item - ebay / jewllers / military interest shops? and what sort of price one would get for it?

many thanks


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

bigfer said:


> Ok, as you can see this is my first post so i'm a watch virgin & just to prove it i wear a casio g-shock 1980's classic (the ice hockey puck one). Anyway i have had instructions to clear out the old mans trinkets & to cut a long story short, i appear to have found a seiko 7A38 chronograph yellow face. Having googled it to try to see if it was worth keeping, i have come across all the stuff about the vulcan legend etc etc.
> 
> can anyone suggest the best way to off load this item - ebay / jewllers / military interest shops? and what sort of price one would get for it?
> 
> many thanks


This is a 'wind-up' right ??? :huh: No - of course not .... it's a Quartz. :lol:

See this thread in the Japanese / Seiko section: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42608

Any chance of you posting some photos of it, including the case-back, so we can read the serial number, etc. ?


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

bigfer said:


> can anyone suggest the best way to off load this item - ebay / jewellers / military interest shops?
> 
> and what sort of price one would get for it?





SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> See this thread in the Japanese / Seiko section: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42608


O.K.. So presuming you've read (_at least_) the first post in that thread, and clicked on the links ....

That's how *not* to sell it ! 

Yes - by all means list it on eBay - it gives you the biggest world-wide 'audience' - and hence potential number of buyers ....

But don't list it on www.ebay.co.uk - list it on www.ebay.com - and start the bidding in *U.S. Dollars*.

Use this as a listing title (and nothing less):

*SEIKO 7A38-701B Vintage Quartz Chronograph 'RAF Vulcan'*

Rare and collectable watch with possible military provenance. (_as a sub-title_)

It'll be interesting to see what the market will make of it.


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## bigfer (Jul 27, 2009)

thanks for the advice. i'll try to take some pics and post.

the numbers on the back are 394589.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

bigfer said:


> the numbers on the back are 394589.


Well there probably are a few others, around the perimeter of the case-back, such as *7A38-701B*, but the one that you quoted is the serial number, which gives a date of manufacture of September 1983 (from the first 2 digits).

About right for one of these - most of the short production run seems to come from the latter part of '83.


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## bigfer (Jul 27, 2009)

other numbers are 7A38-701B [A3]


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

bigfer said:


> other numbers are 7A38-701B [A3]


Hence my post above:



SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Use this as a listing title (and nothing less):
> 
> *SEIKO 7A38-701B Vintage Quartz Chronograph 'RAF Vulcan'*
> 
> Rare and collectable watch with possible military provenance. (_as a sub-title_)


That effectively defines the Seiko model by the Calibre / Watch Case No.


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## bigfer (Jul 27, 2009)

is it worth mentioning that i have the instruction manual for this watch or not bothering, or even selling it as a separate item?

thanks


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

bigfer said:


> is it worth mentioning that i have the instruction manual for this watch or not bothering ....


It's always worth including any original boxes and manuals in a sale. Sometimes adds to the price achieved. 



bigfer said:


> .... or even selling it as a separate item?


You could do that, but probably not likely to get much for it. I've seen a couple go for less than a tenner on eBay. 










Having said that, this manual came to me as part of a job lot (with a mint Two-Tone 7A38-7270 and a 7T32) for only 50 Euros !


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

bigfer said:


> .... i'll try to take some pics and post.


Oh, and by the way ....


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## bigfer (Jul 27, 2009)

i've managed to upload a photo of the watch

http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx51/se...10/DSC00562.jpg


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

bigfer said:


> i've managed to upload a photo of the watch
> 
> http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx51/se...10/DSC00562.jpg


Looks good ! :thumbsup: Not too much damage (only minor scratching) on the Tachymeter bezel, too. 










Next time, you might want to consider rotating your photo, and aligning the sweep second and sub-dial hands (reset to zero).

Like this:


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## frogspawn (Jun 20, 2008)

Had a word with my next door neibour yesterday. Ex Squadron leader , flew Victors and Vulcans, took part in the Black Buck raids. He was issued with a Hamilton, has never seen a "special watch" for Vulcan pilots. Navigators had chrongraphs but to quote him "all aircrew issue watches were crap" and had to be reset regularly.........


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## horz (Aug 24, 2008)

frogspawn said:


> Had a word with my next door neibour yesterday. Ex Squadron leader , flew Victors and Vulcans, took part in the Black Buck raids. He was issued with a Hamilton, has *never seen a "special watch" for Vulcan pilots*. Navigators had chrongraphs but to quote him "all aircrew issue watches were crap" and had to be reset regularly.........


not surprising, it seems apparent that the vulcan 'heritage' may just be a myth. I've never been able to find a definitive answer myself.

This guy seems to have done his research though: horologycrazy

Still, it doesn't stop the watch from looking so good, whatever the case.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Use this as a listing title (and nothing less):
> 
> *SEIKO 7A38-701B Vintage Quartz Chronograph 'RAF Vulcan'*
> 
> ...


Actually, thinking about it, this probably works just as well:

*Rare Yellow-faced SEIKO 7A38-701B Quartz Chronograph !!*

The legendary (allegedly MOD issued) RAF Vulcan Seiko ! (as a subtitle)


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## DMP (Jun 6, 2008)

Sorry to butt in but if either of you blokes want to off-load a 7A38 manual, please get in touch. I don't need one (I've downloaded a copy of the manual) but I'd just like to have one!










Cheers

Dave


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## bigfer (Jul 27, 2009)

DMP said:


> Sorry to butt in but if either of you blokes want to off-load a 7A38 manual, please get in touch. I don't need one (I've downloaded a copy of the manual) but I'd just like to have one!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## bigfer (Jul 27, 2009)

I see that the Vulcan went for Â£360 on ebay. Any ideas if someone has picked up a bargain?


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

I wouldn't say he got a 'bargain', exactly. However the buyer seems happy enough

I'd say that it went for a fair price ....

For a rare *non-military* Seiko 7A38 in a used condition, with a stretched bracelet.

Compared to prices paid for a few 7A38-701B's over the last couple of years, it was disappointing.

But as the seller, I'm not complaining - because when I bought it, 8 months ago, *it was a bargain*.

See this thread in the Japanese watches section: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42608


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