# Seiko 7A38 Day Wheel Part Numbers



## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

I think I can safely say that the Seiko 7A38 is / was pretty unique.

Not only was it the World's First Analogue Quartz Day / Date Chronograph ....

It was the only one such (built by Seiko) to have a dual language day wheel fitted.

To the best of my knowledge, the 7T59's which followed later were single language only.

The most common combination appears to have been English / Spanish day abbreviations (US market),

but other commonly seen day wheel variations (dependant upon the target demographic), have included:

(Always) English with: German / French / Italian / Arabic.

The JDM versions usually have English / Kanji, then there are the English / Roman Numeral day wheels, and

presumably, as they were intended for the home Brazilian market, the ZFM models had English / Portuguese.

Usually black (sub)dialed watches will have White (lettering) on Black (background) Day / Date wheels and

lighter (including all silver / grey / white / cream) coloured dials will have Black (lettering) on Silvery-White.

There are some obvious exceptions to that rule, such as the 7A38-7010 and -701A, and more besides â€¦

There is another notable exception, which uniquely used Gold (lettered) on Black (background) wheels â€¦

The 7A38-6090 SAA117J â€" see this thread: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=59404










Note that example above, belonging to Hermann-Josef obviously has an English / German day wheel.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

As you may have gathered from my various ramblings, I'm a bit of a stickler for detail.

Call me a pedant, or whatever you like - I like things 'right' - or 'right as I see them'. :tongue2:

I like (most of) my 7A38's to have the *correct colour day / date wheels* (for their original dials),

but I will (deliberately) swap things around, if I think they look better, when in Franken-building mode:



SEIKO7A38 said:


> As I wrote in another thread (instead of here, where I should have done), giving the game away, last weekend ....
> 
> I transplanted that 7A38-7070's dial onto another movement *(note the white day / date windows, now, not black)*
> 
> ...


I also, wherever possible, like my 7A38's (and non-Seiko derivatives) to have the *correct dual language* combinations.

So my Yema and Jaz N8's (and presumably also the Kamatz 5xxxxx's) will have English / French day wheels;

the German-built Junghans 24/4610's and (Orient-built, but German market) Puma Y19's English and German.

Following me so far ? :umnik2:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Well, therein lies a problem. I don't have an endless supply of spare re-built 7A38A movements, and

the only spare (loose) Day wheel I currently have is a b*ggered English / French one off a 'scrapper'.

As you may have read in a couple of other recent threads ....

I'm looking for a Black (lettering) on White English / German day wheel for one of my Junghans 24/4610's, and

John (Hans a.k.a. 'AmericanKiwi') is looking for a White lettering on Black day wheel for his 7A38-701B 'Vulcan'.

Neither of us particularly want to butcher / swap around other wheels / movements to get these parts. :no:

In theory, you should be able to order the individual colour / language combination from Seiko.

The problem is knowing which part number Day wheel to order. 

If you break down the parts list for any particular 7A38-xxxx model, you can easily find the *date* ring.

Basically there are only 3 part numbers:

0801593 (Black on White); 0801594 (White on Black) and 0878513 (Gold on Black - as used on 7A38-6090 SAA117J).

Problem is that all the different Day wheel permutations are lumped together in the 7A38A movement parts list:





































.... without any clue in their description, as to which colour / language they might be.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

That good old fall-back - the 7A38A Seiko Technical Manual, from 1984, doesn't provide much help either. :book:

See: http://www.seikodigitalwatches.com/7XXX/7A38A.pdf

On page 2 of the Parts List, it includes p/n 470.678 (a.k.a. 0470678), marked with a star.

If you turn over to page 3, you'll find this (not particularly helpful) note:










As it happens, I already knew that p/n 0470678 is the Black (lettering) on White English / *Spanish* day wheel.

So one could probably assume that p/n 0470679 is the White lettering on Black English / Spanish equivalent. 

Here's the former fitted on the original (battery acid damaged) movement out of my Orient J39908-70:










Note the part number 0470678 printed in minuscule lettering :blind: near the centre (plus ES printed between the days).


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Note the part of the text in that extract above which I have outlined in red:



> *If any other type of day star with dial disk is required, specify the number printed on the disk.*


Which of course assumes that you already have the correct colour / language wheel that you need. 

To which end, I've started to compile a table in Excel from various dismantled movements:










Any contributions to this data sheet would be gratefully received. :notworthy:

Don't all rush to rip the dials (and hands) off your 7A38's at once. :hammer:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38 said:


> There is another notable exception, which uniquely used *Gold (lettered) on Black (background)* wheels ....
> 
> The 7A38-6090 SAA117J â€" see this thread: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=59404
> 
> Note that example above, belonging to Hermann-Josef obviously *has an English / German day wheel*.


Wonder how I found out that part number 0170738 was the *Gold on Black English / Spanish* day wheel ?


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38 said:


> The most common combination appears to have been English / Spanish day abbreviations (US market),
> 
> but other commonly seen day wheel variations (dependant upon the target demographic), have included:
> 
> ...


I was doing a bit of online research into day wheel abbreviations this afternoon, and found this very useful blog page:

*WATCHES' DAY WHEEL LANGUAGES*



> Seiko movements are especially known to come with bilingual day wheels, the common being English with Spanish,
> 
> and of course Japanese Kanji, targeted at their own Japanese market, and even Arabic ....


Lots of tables below.


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## americankiwi (Dec 20, 2010)

SEIKO7A38 :thumbsup:

i need the day wheel for my 7A38-7210

that im now rebuilding


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

americankiwi said:


> SEIKO7A38 :thumbsup:
> 
> i need the day wheel for my 7A38-72*1*0 that im now rebuilding


I presume you mean your 7A38-72*7*0 John ? :grin:

Got any part numbers off the old day wheels you'd like to share with me ?


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## americankiwi (Dec 20, 2010)

that wheel is inside my 7270 for now...yes sorry not 7210 :blush2:

the #'s on the black wheel are too beaten up to read, thats why im looking for another


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## americankiwi (Dec 20, 2010)

SEIKO7A38..i looked at the black day wheel again..its really messed up..but the last 3 digits "679"

its a English-Spanish wheel


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

americankiwi said:


> SEIKO7A38..i looked at the black day wheel again..its really messed up..but the last 3 digits "679". Its a English-Spanish wheel


Thanks John. :thumbsup:

So that confirms my earlier assumption (from the 7A38A manual parts list - rather than having actually seen one myself):



SEIKO7A38 said:


> So one could probably assume that p/n 0470*679* is the White lettering on Black English / Spanish equivalent.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

americankiwi said:


> SEIKO7A38..i looked at the black day wheel again..its really messed up..but the last 3 digits "679". Its a English-Spanish wheel


The incorrect (English / German) *black* day wheel from my original Junghans High Tech 24/4610 was a bit beaten up too ....










Very obviously 'secondhand' - robbed from another 7A38, and as I had suspected, definitely not original to the watch. :no:

Still, at least the part number was legible: 0470695. 










I've updated the table a little bit more:










I could probably safely interpolate the (white on) Black Arabic wheel is p/n 0470693, but would prefer (someone) to verify it.

With sincere apologies :notworthy: to any Arabic readers for the appalling depiction of the Arabic script above. :blush2:

Has anyone ever tried using Arabic characters in Excel (even having downloaded the Scheherazade font) ? :huh:

Once imported, it seems that individual words develop a mind of their own (due to the right to left justification) ! :angry:


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