# My 2 Newest Incoming 7A38'S - Both New Old Stock



## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Some of you may have read this sequence of posts in the 'Happy 5th Anniversary 7A38 thread. :read:

See: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=59398&view=findpost&p=672510, and posts # 51 through # 58.

A relative newbie to the forum, James, wrote without knowing how I, as an avid 7A38 collector, might react. 



jair1970 said:


> Anyone see the Italian 'NOS' 7A38s this afternoon on the bay? (Â£88)
> 
> Was tempted but I'm a novice and have spent too much this month





jair1970 said:


> No probs:
> 
> User: tentazioni72
> 
> ...


In fact there were neither 4, nor 3, but only 2. The other one was eBay item # 250836337924.

See: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250836343906#ht_500wt_716



> *Orologio da polso da uomo SEIKO nuovo!*














> Orologio da polso da uomo SEIKO movimento al quarzo, cronografo e datario.
> 
> Impermeabile. Cassa in acciaio 38 mm. Cinturino in pelle nero. Referenza: *SAA097J*.
> 
> ...


and: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250836337924#ht_500wt_716



> *Orologio da polso da uomo SEIKO nuovo!*














> Orologio da polso da uomo SEIKO movimento al quarzo cronografo e datario.
> 
> Impermeabile. Cassa in acciaio 328 mm. Cinturino in pelle nero. Referenza: *SAA015J*.
> 
> ...


With both offered at 100 Euros apiece, and in 'New With Tags' condition, I didn't hesitate to hit the 'Buy-it-Now' button. :naughty:

I'll hasten to add that was a*fter* I'd gone back and re-read this part of James' post, just to be sure. :angel_not:



jair1970 said:


> Was tempted but I'm a novice and have spent too much this month.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

With no apologies for the copy and paste :tongue2:, this was my slightly delayed reply in post # 57 of that other 7A38 thread:



SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Item # 250836343906 (which he correctly lists as SAA097J) is a rare 7A38-7260, which should be on a leather strap:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## tixntox (Jul 17, 2009)

Remind me never to get into a gunfight with you!!! :angel_not:

What a trigger finger eh?

Mike


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## taffyman (Apr 26, 2011)

wot a great buy !


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

tixntox said:


> Remind me never to get into a gunfight with you!!! :angel_not:
> 
> What a trigger finger eh?


Actually, in hindsight, I was a little slow of the mark, by my standards, Mike. :grin:

Assuming I must have read James' post around 5:55pm on the 11th June ....

I've just checked, and according to the eBay email notifications I received ....

I hit the Buy-it-Now button on the 7A38-7260 at 6:01pm and the 7A38-7060 at 6:07pm.

I paid the eBay seller's combined invoice at 6:17pm and then breathed a sigh of relief. :sweatdrop:

By which time, the first auction had already recieved 11 views and the second one 7 views.

If I hadn't grabbed them up quickly, some other 7Axx collector certainly soon would have. 

I did hesitate very briefly , because I was concerned about what appeared in the seller's only

listing photo to be nicks in the bezel of the 7A38-7260. As it turns out, they were just reflections. 

PS - In the heydey of Intel Product Service, it was our departmental manager, *not me* :no:

who had the nickname of 'Smoking Guns' .... Shoot first and ask questions later ! :hunter:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

They actually arrived last Monday, but after a cursory examination, have spent the last 7 days in the airing cupboard ! :huh:

I'll explain later. :wink2:

I did get them out this afternoon, and rattled off a couple of grainy Q&D's, in poor natural light conditions:



















Better photos to follow soon.


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## 7A28lvr (May 19, 2011)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> They actually arrived last Monday, but after a cursory examination, have spent the last 7 days in the airing cupboard ! :huh:
> 
> I'll explain later. :wink2:
> 
> ...


Paul, Those are absolutely beautiful examples.


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## Jota (Jun 22, 2011)

Stunning catches Paul. Congratulations. Enjoy them! :thumbsup:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Thanks, Guys. :thumbsup:

Unfortunately the rather grainy photos I took yesterday simply don't do the watches justice. :blush:

The light is no better today - it's grey and overcast, so I'm going to post a few more of them.

As I mentioned in a previous post, although it was theoretically N.O.S., and came with a SAA015J tag ....

The stainless 7A38-7060 wasn't exactly how it had left the Seiko factory 20-odd years ago.

Whereas a couple of the other 7A38-706x's were offered with a leather strap option ....

The stainless white-faced 7A38-7060 wasn't. It should be fitted with a p/n G1105S stainless bracelet.

No big deal, 'cos I've got one or two of those already. :grin:

I examined the ends of the watch case between the lugs, very carefully, but there were no marks. Nada.

Usually you'll see some impression made by the bracelet end pieces, even if a watch has been lightly worn.

So I presume the original bracelet must have been removed from new, possibly at a customer's behest.

The good quality heavily padded / ribbed black leather strap they had fitted was as new and unworn.

The underside was embossed with something in Italian. The logo looks vaguely like Fluco's.










But to my eye, it didn't suit the watch at all. :thumbsdown:

So it will be going onto one of my Yema N8 '7A38's, some of which use a very similar design strap.

For the time being, I've fitted a TSS Aerosport Mk2, which far better suits the watch:










This is a better photo which I took yesterday, showing the true dial colour, now fitted with the TSS Aerosport Mk2 strap:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Unfortunately the rather grainy photos I took yesterday simply don't do the watches justice. :blush:
> 
> The light is no better today - it's grey and overcast, so I'm going to post a few more of them.


Here's a couple of shots of the case-backs. The 7A38-7060 was by then fitted with the TSS strap:



















One thing I was really pleased about was that although lightly aged, the 7A38-7260 was still on the original BRA35S strap:










As some of you may have read elsewhere, I did already have a 7A38-7260 in my collection.

It's one I'd re-furbished and fitted with a dark grey lizard strap which matches the dial colour:



SEIKO7A38Fan said:


>


But it's always nice to have an original unmolested N.O.S. example on the original Seiko strap besides. :man_in_love:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> They actually arrived last Monday, but after a cursory examination, have spent the last 7 days in the airing cupboard ! :huh:
> 
> I'll explain later. :wink2:


Getting back to this bit. :dontgetit:

Although I was very pleased with their cosmetic condition, I became less happy with their time-keeping. :thumbsdown:

With their 0.26 second / day step adjustment facility, Seiko 7A38's are usually reknowned for their accuracy.

After I'd given them a quick look over a week ago Monday, I re-set their chrono' hands / time by the Atomic Clock.

It wasn't till later that evening, I checked the 7A38-7260, and realized it had lost a couple of minutes. :huh:

So I re-set it again, and then checked it every hour, to find it was losing 7 to 8 seconds per hour !! :angry:

That's equivalent to losing *3 minutes* per day, not plus / minus 0.26 seconds per day ! :shocking:

I later realized that the 7A38-7060 was also losing time, but nothing like as badly. 

Funnily enough, the eBay seller had included stamped / dated Seiko Worldwide warranties with the watches:



















So last Tuesday, I tentatively phoned Seiko UK customer service, to check on the validity of these guarantees.

I spoke to a very helpful lady, Seiko UK's Customer Satisfaction Supervisor, and explained my quandry. hone1:

I wasn't particulary keen to send either watch in 'on spec', so she suggested that I send her scans of the guarantees.

However, she did state that if I undid the case-backs myself, I would invalidate any implied warranty.









I suspected that these watches had been left in storage somewhere, either hacked or with batteries removed.

So they were probably suffering from sticky old oil syndrome, and needed a full strip-down and service.

So I put them in the airing cupboard; and waited impatiently; and sulked after a day when they were still losing. :cray:

But in the end, I left them for over a week in the airing cupboard, and finally took them out yesterday.

Reset them both by the Atomic Clock once again, and since then neither watch has lost a second. :clap:

I did call the lady at Seiko UK back this afternoon, just to see if they would honour the warranties.

She said they would - for 12 months. :thumbup: After 12 months, I would have to return via the seller.

I thanked her, and told her that it appeared that I no longer needed to avail their services - for the time being.

I'll be keeping a close eye on these two. Also trying to resist the temptation to open their case-backs. :naughty:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> So I presume the original bracelet must have been removed from new, possibly at a customer's behest.
> 
> The good quality heavily padded / ribbed black leather strap they had fitted was as new and unworn.
> 
> The underside was embossed with something in Italian. The logo looks vaguely like Fluco's.


Just been trying to google that Italian text on the underside of the strap. :umnik2:

OREF. SPOLVERATO would appear to be an abbreviation for:

Gioielleria e *Oref*iceria Gioielleria *Spolverato* Di Anna Paggiaro & C. S.a.s. ....

another jewelry store in Albignasego, PD, possibly connected to the eBay seller Tentazioni d'oro:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> .... another jewelry store in Albignasego, PD, possibly connected to the eBay seller Tentazioni d'oro:


Found another directory entry: http://www.imprese-it.com/10578-2029-Gioiellerie_e_oreficerie-Albignasego.html

*Tentazioni Doro* Di *Spolverato* Adriano Gioielleria Orologeri Sas. Definitely connected.


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## martinzx (Aug 29, 2010)

Well done Paul,

A great addition to your collection, very happy there are now running sweet, ! they look excellent indeed!

Cheers Martin :thumbsup:


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## Deco (Feb 15, 2011)

S'fan,

They look like good catches & the thread, like the rest of your ones - an entertaining & educational read.

Thanks for sharing.

Dec


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## jair1970 (Jun 6, 2011)

Quite a result in the end then!

Getting guarantees is pretty funny and they look like lovely examples.

All the best

James


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

jair1970 said:


> Quite a result in the end then!


All thanks to you, James. :cheers:


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## tixntox (Jul 17, 2009)

The airing cupboard eh? It was the radiator shelf when i tried that trick! What a nice pair as the bishop said to the actress! On the accuracy front, my 7A38 was just under 2 seconds out when i did the old summer time adjustment! Take some beating these 7A's. :notworthy:

Mike


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> SEIKO7A38Fan said:
> 
> 
> > They actually arrived last Monday, but after a cursory examination, have spent the last 7 days in the airing cupboard !
> ...


Seems I spoke too soon. :angry:

I put both watches away in one of my collection boxes, with a Post-it note to check them for accuracy in a month's time.

Today at 4 o'clock, I remembered. :umnik2:

Whereas the 'airing cupboard' trick seems to have worked for the 7A38-7060 - it was spot on, to the second :thumbsup: ....

The 7A38-7260 was showing *2 o'clock on Friday 29th* !!!  

So it looks like I will be availing Seiko UK for their generous offer of a free service under 'extended' warranty after all. :lookaround:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

I make no apologies for giving this thread a little bump, 3 months 'after the fact' :tongue2: .... after all, I did promise:



SEIKO7A38 said:


> I did get them out this afternoon, and rattled off a couple of grainy Q&D's, in poor natural light conditions:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


:acute: I just didn't write *how* soon. :grin:

As you may have gathered, despite their generous offer, I was a little reluctant to send the watch in to Seiko UK. 

Instead, for the whole month of August, I decided to waste time by closely monitoring the watch's performance. :umnik2:

It started off losing the odd second, here and there, but ....

On the 11th it stopped at 01:13 (a.m.), showing WED 11. Reset on Thursday 11th. :angry:

On the 15th it stopped at 02:34 (a.m.), showing DOM 15. Reset (again) on Tuesday 16th. 

It then ran pretty well for over a week, until ....

Once again, it stopped on the 27th at 02:12 (a.m.), showing VEN 27. Reset (again) on Saturday 27th, only to ....

Stop once again on the 29th at 00:15 (a.m.) with the day / date showing SUN 28. Note - earlier this time. 

Next time it appears to have stopped was on Thursday 1st September, but later re-started by itself. 

Anyway, there was an obvious pattern forming, indicating the dire need for a service / overhaul ....

So eventually, having resisted the temptation to unscrew the case-back, and have a look for myself ....

I telephoned Seiko's helpful Customer Satisfaction Supervisor, and told her that I'd like to send it in. hone1:

I removed the original strap, for safe-keeping (and ease of packaging), and set the watch to the correct time and date.

Packaged it up on the evening of Monday 19th, and posted it, by RMSD, about midday on Tuesday 20th.

Apparently, according to the note I got back, it arrived (on Wednesday), showing 11:45 and TUEsday 20th. :thumbsdown:

Don't know exactly what they did with it, or what they found inside, but it came back this Friday, hopefully now sorted:










Incidentally, the partially hidden initials of the Seiko technician who did the service / overhaul ....

belong to someone I know of, who until early 2010 was a fairly regular poster on this forum,

but appears to have since deserted good old RLT for the greener pastures of 'The Dark Side'. :sadwalk:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

.... and whereas the following photos still fall into the Q&D category, they're a little better than those I posted before.









The freshly serviced 7A38-7260 SAA097J, back from overhaul by SEIKO UK, reunited with it's original p/n BRA35S strap:










My other re-furbished 7A38-7260, (fitted with a N.O.S. bezel) on a 'quick-change' dark grey lizard strap, which I prefer:










The two of them together:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

In case you might be wondering, the other N.O.S. 7A38-7060, which I bought at the same time, and ....

which subsequently got the same 'airing cupboard treatment', has continued to keep perfect time. 










Here they are together:










And with their respective tags:










Of course, although it came with a SAA0015J tag, the 7A38-7060 isn't strictly correct. :thumbsdown:

Whereas the gold-tone 7A38-7060 and dark blue-faced 7A38-706A were offered with a leather strap option ....

The white-faced 7A38-7060 SAA015J never was. :no: It should be fitted with a p/n G1105S stainless bracelet.

So here's the N.O.S. 7A38-7060 photographed alongside my almost mint 'correct' 7A38-7060 SAA015J:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38 said:


> And with their respective tags:


About those tags ....










I never did show you the other side, did I ? 










So despite the initial hassles with the 7A38-7260, still a *very good buy* at 100 Euros each, postage from Italy included.

Thanks again to SEIKO UK for honouring a warranty on a 23 year-old watch, and especially to 'Chris'.









Even bigger thanks, once again, to James for having given me the 'heads up' on them in the first place. :cheers:

PS - After that snatch-and-grab 7A38-7270 yesterday, I can see I'm going to have to keep my eye on you. :naughty:


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## jair1970 (Jun 6, 2011)

You'll be pleased to know i'm out at work most of the time!

They're really nice examples and I can't help but wish i'd stepped in myself. Although saying that, there is no way i'd have put in the effort to return them to A1 spec and i'd have never thought to get Seiko to honour their warranty, which is both brilliant and hilarious at the same time.

So all in all, they reside in their proper place.

But I will always be on the lookout for a bargain


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

jair1970 said:


> But I will always be on the lookout for a bargain


Then look again, James. :lookaround: And hurry up and get your post count up over 50, so I can PM you !


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## Jota (Jun 22, 2011)

What a hawk you are Paul, those are wonderful and so is your 7A28. Congratulations!!!


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## LeeKaye (Jun 3, 2011)

I really should stop opening your threads! I want them all. 

Thanks again for the story.


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## bpc (Jul 20, 2011)

That 7060 is fantastic! I'll have to find one of those for myself someday.


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## jair1970 (Jun 6, 2011)

I hadn't realised that my modest post count was hindering my interaction!


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## tixntox (Jul 17, 2009)

jair1970 said:


> I hadn't realised that my modest post count was hindering my interaction!


You're at 50 now! :acute:

Mike


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