# Somewhat De-Militarized Seiko Raf Gen. 1 Movement.



## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Iâ€™ve had this on my eBay watching page all week, purely as a matter of interest â€" to see what it eventually went for:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320540992889



> *Seiko Military RAF Gen 1 Chronograph 7A28 *Movement* *












Sellerâ€™s description:



> Seiko 7A28 Movement
> 
> Seiko Military RAF Gen 1 Chronograph 7A28 *Movement* In perfect working condition, the movement came out of a well sealed 7A28 (non military) watch case and can only be described as mint. The case will be supplied along with the caseback. These movements are getting very thin on the ground, itâ€™s always handy to have a spare for these mega rare SEIKO RAF Gen 1's especially if they carry on rocketing in value!! and they will...
> 
> I have security marked the movement for my protection, It is functioning 100%. Bid in confidence.


From the sellerâ€™s second photo, itâ€™s quite clear that the donor watch is in fact a humble common or garden 7A28-7029:










as in: http://members.cox.net/watches-1/7A28_7029.html .... And to quote Hung Pham, from the top of his page:



> This model is the "ugly duckling" of the 7A28 series. It's not very popular because of the gold-tone.
> 
> You can usually find one on Ebay for less than $100.


.... In fact, often quite a lot cheaper than that.









This one, however, described as a 'RAF Gen. 1 Movement' sold for Â£125.45 after 26 bids. :shocking:

Though one can never be 100% sure with these 'private' ebay auctions: *private listing - bidders' identities protected*. :lookaround:


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## BlueKnight (Oct 29, 2009)

Another good piece of Seiko detective work. Well done Sherlock!


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## Walnuts (Apr 20, 2010)

To the op, I've been meaning to ask you this but didn't want to create a thread for it and this seems as good a place as any,

How many 7A38's do you have?

And

What drew you to this particular model, is it just the aesthetics, is it sentimental or is there something else, genuinely interested.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Walnuts said:


> .... didn't want to create a thread for it ....


There is an older thread in the Japanese section, going back to December, last year, which you could have 'bumped':

http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=49344



Walnuts said:


> How many 7A38's do you have?


That was the state of play back then, 6 months ago.

In terms of 'pure' Seiko 7A38's the total number hasn't grown very much since then - maybe 65 in total.

But I've expanded my collection (laterally) by diversifing into other manufacturer's watches using '7A38' calibers:

Yema (C.G.H.); Kamatz (built by Yema); Orient and a Cartier Ferrari Formula - adding another dozen or so to the total.



Walnuts said:


> What drew you to this particular model, is it just the aesthetics, is it sentimental or is there something else, genuinely interested.


1) Aesthetics

2) Functionality

3) Diversity of the range of models ....

4) Sentiment .... and the 'collecting bug'.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> > You can usually find one on Ebay for less than $100.
> 
> 
> .... In fact, often quite a lot cheaper than that.


For example, the eBay listing for a 7A38-7029 in the States, which ended last night:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150451514820

*Seiko Quartz Chronograph Model # 7A28-7029 --- LQQK!!*










.... although not completely 100% functional, and went for a mere *$12.99*.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> For example, the eBay listing for a 7A*3*8-7029 in the States, which ended last night ....










I did of course mean to type 7A*2*8-7029.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> > You can usually find one on Ebay for less than $100.
> 
> 
> .... In fact, often quite a lot cheaper than that.


Another 'beater' gold-plated 7A28-7029 (needing a battery): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250643070523 - went for $53.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Idly googling this afternoon, came across this old thread from 2007 on WUS: http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=64288

Scroll down the page to the bottom photo; whose caption reads as follows:



> Left to right; Seiko 7A28 RAF, Seiko 7A28 RAF, Seiko 7A38 on strap, *Spare 7A28 movement for RAF if required* ....












So not exactly a new idea then. 

Still it would be a great shame if all but the minty-est 7A28-7029's ended up this way.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Been seeing a lot of these lately (partly inspired by you, sir), and yeesh ... some of them are beaten and worn to crap. Makes me want to cry. Some of Seiko's cases are so over the top I expect to see Liberace peering out the back, but many of those A28s and A38s were so elegant. It was a nice era, weren't it?


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

David Spalding said:


> It was a nice era, weren't it?


It was indeed, Sir .... :hi:

In fact one could go as far as to say that it was a '*Golden Era**'*.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Speaking of 'Creative Marketing' and misleading eBay listings for non-military 7A28's, as we were ....

Did anybody else have this auction, which ended (*early*) yesterday evening, on their eBay watching page ? :lookaround:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180519306701

The attention-grabbing listing was blatantly and deliberately mis-titled as:



> *Vintage Seiko 7a28 chronograph watch * Gen1 RAF Seiko **


.... inferring that it was a listing for a military 7A38-7120 RAF Gen 1 ....

.... when the photos clearly showed that it was a 'civilian' 7A28-702A:










The seller's description was little better:



> Here is a very rare Seiko 7a28-702A chronograph watch from the 1980's.
> 
> This is essentially the RAF 7a28 with same quality inerds - it is known as the Civilian Gen 1 RAF Seiko 7a28-7120 according to web. It has the highly rated 15 jewel movement which works great. The only faults are that the glass is scratched (to be expected for it's age but may polish up with a little know how ?) and the minute chrono re-set button is tempermental. The chrono fly back functions and counters work fine as does regular time. The black leather strap is missing the stainless end buckle (will have a better look for it though) but will buy one to fit from a local jewellers so ready to wear for it before sold - have enquired and can get one but likely will be in gold colour. UK 1st class P&P Â£5.50. Any Q's please ask.
> 
> The auction has been reduced to run 5 days now due to other time commitments..


.... although it appears to have been edited at least once - probably due to being reported. :thumbsdown:

The auction was due to finish on 21st June, but ended early - the seller satisfied that he'd found a mug punter.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180519306701


This less-than scrupulous eBay seller who uses these kind of misleading selling tactics is already known to us. 

Although he's now changed his location to 'South' (UK), it is the same '*lesterplant*' from Workington, Cumbria.

Yes - the very same, who constructed and listed that Franken 7A38-7070/-7080 back in March.

See: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=52954

Definately an eBay seller to be avoided at all costs. :thumbsdown:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> .... inferring that it was a listing for a military 7A*3*8-7120 RAF Gen 1 ....










Excuse the typo. :blush: Should obviously read 7A*2*8-7120 RAF Gen. 1.







Old habits die hard.


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## howie77 (Jun 21, 2009)

I have to tell you I love these reports, keep 'em coming.









Just goes to show how wary you have to be using 'bay in any of it's national guises.

Guess it also shows that you do the research, it pays off dividends. And if you happen to relish that research, well then that's a proper avocation.









Cheers,

Howie


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Yep, me too, enjoying the back room analysis of the eBay hawkers.....


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