# Seiko Chronos - Which Are The Best Made?



## Johnny_E (Nov 16, 2009)

I'm talking about the innards here - the cogs and wheels. I've a preference for quartz in a chrono but which Seiko one is best made? By well made I mean durable.

The motivation for my question is this: I've fell back in love with my old 7T32 chrono/alarm....










.... and for the first time since joining this forum, I at last feel a bit of a direction to what my "collection" could be.

My 6 month long saga in sourcing 7T32 parts showed me that the plastic date wheel in these is the weak point. 7A38's are immensely popular - but I've never seen one in the metal. So.. I'm wondering what way to go. Any ideas or pics that may steer me are most welcome.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Johnny_E said:


> I've a preference for quartz in a chrono but which Seiko one is best made? By well made I mean durable.
> 
> 7A38's are immensely popular - but I've never seen one in the metal.









> Some watches are made to last only as long as they are fashionable.
> 
> Some watches simply arenâ€™t made to last.
> 
> ...


Watch featured in that 1986 advert was a 7A38-7120 (SAA044J).

They don't make 'em like that any more. :not_i:


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## Johnny_E (Nov 16, 2009)

Thanks for that. After a quick bit of surfing about - it would seem that a 7A28 is what I want. This site has a really good write up: http://www.ninanet.net/watches/others13/Mediums/mseiko7a28.html

.. and I LOVE that 7A28-7040 featured on that site. Very nice indeed.

I'll post up in the Wanted section - but if you hear of one, or see one on your travels let me know. I'd be looking for a mint one and would rather pay more for one in excellent condition. Saw a few on eBay - but the inner edge of the bezel seems to be marked on many of them.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

If you're not bothered about the day/date feature of the 7A38, then the 7A28 is definately the way to go. :thumbsup:

Mechanically, the 7A28 and 7A38 are identical, apart from the 'complication' of the day / date wheels.

The chrono gear train is all metal: steel and phosphor bronze wheels - and 15 jewelled, naturally.

The 7A38 has one *very minor* achilles heel, in that it does use *one* plastic gear wheel ....

The one which drives the day / date wheels. Having said that, it's not normally prone to failure :lookaround: ....

But .... *NEVER* mess with the Day / Date settings on a 7A38 between 11:00pm and 3:00am.

Doing so sometimes results in stripping or breaking a tooth off the plastic day/date wheel.

It's a mistake you'll only make once. :blush: Been there; done it; got the T-Shirt. Never again. :bag:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Johnny_E said:


> Thanks for that. After a quick bit of surfing about - it would seem that a 7A28 is what I want.
> 
> Saw a few on eBay ....


Save that eBay search on 7A28 that I sent you in my PM - it'll pick up most of them.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Johnny_E said:


> After a quick bit of surfing about - it would seem that a 7A28 is what I want.
> 
> .. and I LOVE that 7A28-7040 featured on that site. Very nice indeed.


I thought that the 7A28-702A might have appealed to you:

http://members.cox.net/watches-1/7A28_702A.html

It's similar in some respects to your 7T32-6A5A - and effectively a civvy version of the RAF Gen. 1 7A28-7120.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

I like the 7A28s and 7A38s. I'm quite partial to 7A48s, the first I fell in love with in 1986, due to the numerous complications and how they interated them on the face, and the sound and precision is spot on (probably inherited from the previous series). I used to play a game like Roy Scheider in BLUE THUNDER, stop and start the chrono each time at the "0" and count how many times I could do it ... I think my record was 12. But I didn't want to wear out the pushers, so I gave up the game....










I have the chrono sweep second hand set to start at 0:45, over the minute register. You can adjust each of the chrono hands to start anywhere you want, not sure why.

There's a lovely built-in self test (BIT) when you hold the lap button down -- don't know about the other movements.

Thanks for the pic of 7T32 ... I just picked one up quite cheap that the seller thought was a 7T92 based on the accompanying manual, but his pics clearly showed a 7T32-6M59 (might be 8M59) from 1991 IIRC. Got my fingers crossed, it appears to have been bought or given as a gift, worn rarely -- like new. :man_in_love:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Johnny_E said:


> I've a preference for quartz in a chrono but which Seiko one is best made? By well made I mean durable.


What ? :dontgetit: Nobody going to propose anything other than the 7Axx's ?? :lookaround:


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Well, he asked for the best....


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