# My Newest Incoming 7A38 (Another One !) ....



## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

See: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=43103&view=findpost&p=531375

Really dunno why I bothered posting that 'Want' ad. here on RLT. 

But I finally got myself a really nice condition 7A38-6080 two-tone, courtesey of eBay:










Seller's eBay listing photo. Hardly does it justice. It's absolutely bleedin' gorgeous. :wub:

Maybe, if the light is half decent tomorrow, I'll take a couple of shots myself. 

So who needs an over-priced A-P or vintage Cartier Santos ? :huh: Not me ! :beee: 80.00 Euros including postage ! :clap:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Maybe, if the light is half decent tomorrow, I'll take a couple of shots myself.


Well, the light was still cr*p :angry: but I knocked off a couple of quick shots anyway:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> But I finally got myself a really nice condition 7A38-6080 two-tone, courtesey of eBay ....
> 
> Seller's eBay listing photo. Hardly does it justice. It's absolutely bleedin' gorgeous. :wub:


It's not perfect, by any means. 

There are some light marks on the crystal (you couldn't really call them scratches).

Couple of swirlies on the case and bracelet, which will brush out relatively easily ....

.... and some very light rubbing wear to the gold plated embellishments on the underside of the bracelet.

(What you might think you can see on the links immediately below isn't plating wear, but reflection, incidentally).










Nothing I can't live with though.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> It's not perfect, by any means.  Nothing I can't live with though.


The original title that I gave this thread was somewhat unknowingly prophetic. :dontgetit:



> *My Newest Incoming 7A38 (Another One !)*


I was still waiting for that 7A38-6080 to arrive from the German eBay seller, in early February ....

.... when I first started talking to Kurt, from SCWF, (negotiating to buy the Orient 7A38 from him).

Kurt didn't know (at the time) that I already had a two tone 7A38-6080 incoming ....

.... and emailed me this photo of his example - asking if I was interested in purchasing it:










Apart from the badly scratched crystal, and the light plating wear to one corner of the bezel ....

.... (and a slightly twisted bracelet joining link, obscured by his thumb) it looked quite nice.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> I was still waiting for that 7A38-6080 to arrive from the German eBay seller, in early February ....
> 
> Kurt didn't know (at the time) that I already had a two tone 7A38-6080 incoming ....
> 
> .... and emailed me this photo of his example - asking if I was interested in purchasing it.


We discussed it a bit. He reckoned that his was in better cosmetic condition than mine (it wasn't)







....

I told Kurt that I'd rather wait and see what my hopefully better 'incoming' example was like ....

.... and that if he wanted to sell it, he really ought to consider replacing the crystal, and put it on eBay.

I think Kurt may have been a bit disappointed, but that's what he did .... but without replacing the crystal. 

A couple of weeks later (after mine had arrived) Kurt listed it on eBay using a reduced version of this photo:


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> A couple of weeks later (after mine had arrived) Kurt listed it on eBay ....


In the meantime, Kurt had also listed some of his Seiko brochures on eBay, including one from March 1988:










It was the German Seiko brochure, with a few nice illustrations of 7A38's, including this 'family shot':










.... which shows the stainless and two-tone 7A38-6080's (SAA089J and SAA088J) ....

.... flanking the similar-looking 7A48-6000 (SPV024J) and 7F39-7000 (SBY038J).

In fact, although they may outwardly look quite similar, there is very little in common between these models, parts-wise.

The most obvious thing they share is that the two-tone 7A38-6080 and the 7A48-6000 both use the p/n Z1460C bracelet.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> In the meantime, Kurt had also listed some of his Seiko brochures on eBay, including one from March 1988 ....
> 
> .... which shows the stainless and *two-tone 7A38-6080*'s (SAA089J and *SAA088J*) ....


Which I won the eBay auction for. 

When it subsequently arrived, I opened the package, and found Kurt had enclosed some extra goodies. :thumbsup:

Including this small page from another SEIKO brochure, in the form of a 'Football Card':










Seiko were the official timer, and one of the sponsors of UEFA Euro '*88*.









Pure coincidence that Seiko Germany chose to plug the SAA*088* 7A38-6080 for the final of this event ?


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Including this small page from another SEIKO brochure, in the form of a 'Football Card' ....
> 
> Pure coincidence that Seiko Germany chose to plug the SAA*088* 7A38-6080 for the final of this event ?


Nearly forgot to mention :blush: - there was another small illustration of the SAA088 7A38-6080 on the reverse:










The dial face looks almost white in this illustration, but it's most definately silver !


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Now, where was I, after I rambled slightly off topic ? fftopic2:



SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> The original title that I gave this thread was somewhat unknowingly prophetic. :dontgetit:
> 
> 
> 
> ...





SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> I think Kurt may have been a bit disappointed, but that's what he did .... but without replacing the crystal.
> 
> A couple of weeks later (after mine had arrived) Kurt listed it on eBay ....


Well, possibly because of that badly scratched crystal, bidding was a bit slack on Kurt's 7A38-6080. 

So, as we'd become quite friendly, trading dozens of emails over those couple of weeks ....

I thought I'd give his eBay listing a couple of 'bumps' - just to help the bidding along a bit. :hypocrite:

Unfortunately, due to a rush of blood to the bidding finger ....

I ended up managing to win Kurt's 7A38-6080 eBay auction as well. 

It arrived a couple of weeks ago, along with the catalogues and yet another 7A38.

Before it did, I *was* actually toying with the idea of stripping down it completely ....

and removing all the gold plating, and using it to re-furbish my stainless 7A38-6080.

But when it came - although not in such good condition as my first one, it was far too nice to suffer that fate.









First priority was to replace the badly scratched crystal.

I searched everywhere trying to find an original Seiko p/n 300WD6GN00 ....

(used only on the 7A38-6080, and a couple of other obscure models: 7T44-6A00 and 8229-6030/-6040) ....

.... without success. 

Cousins UK list just about every other Seiko p/n 300WD*x*GN00 crystal except that one !

So instead, I ordered my aftermarket replacement crystal of choice - a Sternkreuz MSM 300. 

While the old crystal was out, I carefully polished up the gold plated bezel to remove most of the fine scratches.

Stripped, cleaned and greased the pusher buttons, which were pretty well gummed up, and fitted a new battery.

The watch case and one side of the bracelet needed some re-brushing (and lots of painstaking masking) ....

.... and I finally got round to re-assembling it all today, just before lunchtime:


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## BlueKnight (Oct 29, 2009)

You managed to turn a chunk of charcoal into a diamond! You have a lot of patience...


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

BlueKnight said:


> You managed to turn a chunk of charcoal into a diamond! You have a lot of patience...


Thanks, Mike :thumbsup: .... but it really honestly wasn't *that* bad in the first place.











SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> .... and that if he wanted to sell it, he really ought to consider replacing the crystal, and put it on eBay.
> 
> A couple of weeks later (after mine had arrived) Kurt listed it on eBay using a reduced version of this photo.


That badly scratched crystal and Kurt's *dark-ish* eBay listing photo certainly didn't do it any favours. 

It really only needed a 'bit of buffing up' and some T.L.C. - a few hours work. B)



SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> .... one side of the bracelet needed some re-brushing (and lots of painstaking masking) ....


The most time-consuming part of which was having to almost individually mask the centre link sections of the bracelet,

.... to prevent myself rubbing off any more of the gold plating from the embellishment ornaments, while re-brushing it. 



BlueKnight said:


>


Yes, it certainly is - one of the most attractive of the 7A38 dial faces - if a little on the dressy side.

But now I've got two of them, I'm not quite sure what to do. :lookaround:

Part of me says to keep it - as a daily wearer (with my original better example staying firmly in the collection).

I was thinking about putting it back on eBay, but after a couple of recent disappointing sales, I'm not sure I'll bother.



SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Really dunno why I bothered posting that 'Want' ad. here on RLT.


But then I guess, I could break 'the habit of a lifetime' :tongue2:, and *maybe*  offer it for sale through the forum. :wink2:


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## Paul66 (Oct 8, 2009)

A job very well done IMO, the watch is looking very nice...As you say, it was not in bad shape to start with but it looks better now! Well worth the effort Paul







When you say you brushed the bracelet etc, do you mean polish? i.e Dremel type brushing or by hand or did you mean something else? Only asking as the result looks great and I have a watch bracelet or two that could do with some TLC...


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Paul66 said:


> When you say you brushed the bracelet etc, do you mean polish?
> 
> i.e Dremel type brushing or by hand or did you mean something else?


When I first experimented with re-brushing stainless steel bracelets, I tried a few techniques.

Firstly, using the trusty Dremel Moto-Tool and (small) rotary wire brushes - both brass and steel.

Didn't work particularly well, so I bought some of those small plastic handled wire brushes from Halfords. Ditto. 

Nowadays I do it the way most others seem to do - carefully, by hand.

You start off by getting rid of the worst of the 'Desk Diver' marks and scuffs ....

with Wet & Dry paper (usually dry). Using anything from 400 Grade down to 2000 ....

.... depending on the (original) surface finish you're trying to restore - be it polished or brushed.

Then, once you've got rid of the worst marks, you restore the original re-brushed finish using ScotchBrite pads.

Cut into thin strips, and carefully brushing, without too much pressure, ensuring that you rub in the same direction.

On this particular watch, I used Dark Red (Very Fine) on the Bracelet, and both Dark Red and Green on the case.


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## Paul66 (Oct 8, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Paul66 said:
> 
> 
> > When you say you brushed the bracelet etc, do you mean polish?
> ...


Thanks for the info. I was giong to attempt to get out a few minor marks on a couple of watches but have left them as I didnt know what to use and didnt want to make things worse than they are. I think I'll now get some Wet & Dry and some ScotchBrites and *HAVE A* *GO*!!!! Thanks again Paul


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Paul66 said:


> I was going to attempt to get out a few minor marks on a couple of watches ....


For minor marks - and simply 're-touching' (small areas, not complete bracelet sections), rather than ScotchBrite ....

.... I tend, instead, to use one of those fibreglass 'scratching' watch re-finishing pens, that you can find on eBay.


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## Paul66 (Oct 8, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Paul66 said:
> 
> 
> > I was going to attempt to get out a few minor marks on a couple of watches ....
> ...


Just ordered and incoming, many thanks


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Paul66 said:


> Just ordered and incoming, many thanks


So indeed you have, Paul.







Prophetic words, eh ? :dontgetit:

Doesn't look too bad at all, from the eBay seller's listing photos:




























Bit of a bargain, as I told you, eh ? :thumbsup:

PS - Nice snipe by 'the missus', BTW :lookaround: - I'll have to watch out for her. :rofl2:


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## Paul66 (Oct 8, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Paul66 said:
> 
> 
> > Just ordered and incoming, many thanks
> ...


She's well trained! LOL

Thanks for this Paul







When I can I'll shoot some pics and post them up......


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

There was another of these two-tone 7A38-6080's on eBay in the States:



















Auction ended last night: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230474192517 .... It went for a mere $47.66 (equivalent to Â£33.17).

Seller described it as:



> Superb rare Seiko 7A38-6080 chronograph with original Seiko band.
> 
> Band needs adjustment where it meets the case ....


Well, as this is now the 4th example seen on eBay in the last six months, maybe it's not so rare as I'd thought. 

This one was also exhibiting signs of twisted 'weakest' first bracelet joining links (top one missing a G-P ornament). 



Paul66 said:


> SEIKO7A38Fan said:
> 
> 
> > Bit of a bargain, as I told you, eh ?
> ...


So I think your similarly priced example is probably a better bargain, Paul. :thumbsup:

So when are we going to see some photos ?


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## Paul66 (Oct 8, 2009)

Your wish is my command!


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## Paul66 (Oct 8, 2009)

May get some other shots done over the next few days!

And again









Guess I better set the right date next time!!!! LOL


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## Paul66 (Oct 8, 2009)

And while I'm in the mood and on the subject of "new incoming/arrived very recently" Here's another!!!


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Paul66 said:


> Guess I better set the right date next time!!!! LOL


Looks in really nice condition, Paul - certainly better than my second one.  Great eBay bargain. :thumbsup:

PS - Best not mention the date window - it draws attention to that little crystal scratch. Hands at 10 to 2 is better.


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

Paul66 said:


> And while I'm in the mood and on the subject of "new incoming/arrived very recently" Here's another!!!


I dunno.  Guaranteed to take any thread fftopic2: (We *were* talking 7A38-6080's, remember ?)

Another super eBay bargain, Paul. :thumbsup: You can go find your own from now on - it's every man for himself. :tongue2:

It may not be to everybody's tastes, but that all-over gold plated 7A38-7270 (SAA096J) is something of a rare bird.

Yours in only the second one I've ever seen. :lookaround:

As you know, my own example came in a 'job lot' on eBay, last May, which I shared with a friend:










It cleaned up quite well, and has minimal gold-plating wear:


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