[skrodahl]

I registered on this forum to get in contact with someone selling my dream watch, and realized I had to reach a certain number of post in order to do so. Since I felt I had nothing useful to say, and didn't want to write a number of pretend-messages, I managed to find the dream watch somewhere else.

I'm not one for collecting, and I'd rather avoid owning luxury watches. My "collection" consists of a Casio A168(WA-1) and a Seiko SNXS75K1. Consisted, that is. Because here is my dream watch!

The 7a38 comes in a lot of different varieties. This is the 7190, which is my favorite among them. Love the shape, the dial, the chain, everything about it! Made (according to the serial number) in June 1986, and has lived in Milan until it came into my possession. Not completely mint, but in a more than decent condition.

 

[Kevven]

I registered on this forum to get in contact with someone selling my dream watch, and realized I had to reach a certain number of post in order to do so. Since I felt I had nothing useful to say, and didn't want to write a number of pretend-messages, I managed to find the dream watch somewhere else.

I'm not one for collecting, and I'd rather avoid owning luxury watches. My "collection" consists of a Casio A168(WA-1) and a Seiko SNXS75K1. Consisted, that is. Because here is my dream watch!

View attachment 496230

The 7a38 comes in a lot of different varieties. This is the 7190, which is my favorite among them. Love the shape, the dial, the chain, everything about it! Made (according to the serial number) in June 1986, and has lived in Milan until it came into my possession. Not completely mint, but in a more than decent condition.

Beautiful watch! I haven't seen this variant before and I quite like it. Wear it in good health

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[Seiko7A38]

The stainless 7A38-7190 SAA053J is fairly common. I have a couple of them in my collection. Here's an old wrist shot of my second string example, with a couple of zits on the 30-minute subdial.:

They were (and still are) especially common in the UK, because they were sold (cheaply) in the Argos discount catalogue in 1987.

See also this #TBT Fratello article.

 

[jfield]

I registered on this forum to get in contact with someone selling my dream watch, and realized I had to reach a certain number of post in order to do so. Since I felt I had nothing useful to say, and didn't want to write a number of pretend-messages, I managed to find the dream watch somewhere else.

I'm not one for collecting, and I'd rather avoid owning luxury watches. My "collection" consists of a Casio A168(WA-1) and a Seiko SNXS75K1. Consisted, that is. Because here is my dream watch!

View attachment 496230

The 7a38 comes in a lot of different varieties. This is the 7190, which is my favorite among them. Love the shape, the dial, the chain, everything about it! Made (according to the serial number) in June 1986, and has lived in Milan until it came into my possession. Not completely mint, but in a more than decent condition.

Beautiful patina dial, I love how the discolouration happen only at the outer rings of the subdias, to me its a plus. Is that the exact watch you happen to end up with or just an example you found online?
Here's mine (shameless excuse to share wrist shot)

 

[Seiko7A38]

Beautiful patina dial, I love how the discolouration happen only at the outer rings of the subdials, to me its a plus.

That discolouration of the white 710L dial isn't restricted to just the sub-dial rings. I've seen many worse examples over the years. Here's one that was listed on eBay in October 2020.

 

[rainy daze]

Not completely mint, but in a more than decent condition.

I really like the patina at the edge of the subdials. That's a nice example you've found. The Seiko 7a movements are very well made, and are a joy to use.

 

[skrodahl]

That's my actual watch. I photographed it on top of one of my old Tandberg loudspeakers, with the morning sun shining through the window.

I wasn't really sure if it was discoloration on the edges of the subdials or not, but that's quite probable. I was looking for the all white 7190, and thought this one looked even better.

I did not know that it was so common in the UK, but that explains the huge amount of 7a38s being sold from England.

Mine comes from a watch dealer in Italy, with the original box, all links, the original manual and the warranty card stamped by the dealer in Milan.

Everything is functioning correctly and it keeps the time. At least it has since I received it seven days ago.

 

[bloomincookie]

I registered on this forum to get in contact with someone selling my dream watch, and realized I had to reach a certain number of post in order to do so. Since I felt I had nothing useful to say, and didn't want to write a number of pretend-messages, I managed to find the dream watch somewhere else.

I'm not one for collecting, and I'd rather avoid owning luxury watches. My "collection" consists of a Casio A168(WA-1) and a Seiko SNXS75K1. Consisted, that is. Because here is my dream watch!

View attachment 496230

The 7a38 comes in a lot of different varieties. This is the 7190, which is my favorite among them. Love the shape, the dial, the chain, everything about it! Made (according to the serial number) in June 1986, and has lived in Milan until it came into my possession. Not completely mint, but in a more than decent condition.

Congratulations on your Grail watch. BTW, it wasn't too long ago that I was also there "What?? I have to reach a certain number of posts to..." If memory serves me correctly, I am finally super close to the magic number! Don't worry, you'll make it there too--Good luck!

 

[skrodahl]

I think it was really cool to get the warranty card from the original reseller in Milan. Dated February 27th 1987:

 

[skrodahl]

Also, if anyone knows...
I'm having a real hard time deciding if the subdials are discolored or if they were intended to look like this. It's quite a small watch, and the subdials are quite tiny. Zooming in on pictures gives you so much more detail, compared to wearing it on the wrist or looking at it up close.

While wearing it, the play and reflections of that warmer tone really looks like it was meant to be there. If it wasn't, I feel really lucky to have a specimen that has aged this beautifully.

I had to break out the 1:1 macro lens (ignore the irregularities in the crystal that also came into focus, they're in no way visible to the naked eye), have a look and see what you think:

In case you really want to pixelpeep, clicking on the image will give you the full size capture on Flickr.

 

[zeke441]

Nice piece. The 7A has to be one of the toughest quartz movements out there. My 7A28 was restored a few years ago after years of abuse, same original movement and runs like new.

 

[Seiko7A38]

Also, if anyone knows...
I'm having a real hard time deciding if the subdials are discolored or if they were intended to look like this.

Well, I must admit that when I looked at your first photo I wasn't sure whether your watch's sub-dials were discoloured, or whether the effect was simply due to poor lighting. The 7A38-7190's white 710L dial (also used in the stainless 7A38-7090, 7A38-7280 and 7A38-7289) is prone to discolouration - usually caused by moisture ingress. If you split the two dial plates, as I have done, you'll find that coppery coloured 'patina' which bleeds from between the upper and lower dial plates is nothing more than RUST. The 710L dial isn't pure white - it has a light tinge of silver. But those painted rings on the sub-dials are Silver. Depending on the angle you photograph the watch from, they may or not catch the light. Compare my wrist shot with jfield's and you'll see what I mean.

 

[skrodahl]

@Seiko7A38 I see what you mean with the silver rings. The effect is quite pleasing though.

It's really hard to get it to show in photos, but the sub dials themselves are very light/warm beige with a slight golden tinge on the rings. It's changing very radically depending on the angle of the light. I had another go at it with the mobile camera. Still not super accurate because my phone blocked the light. It's more like the "60" mark on the seconds dial, or next to the "13" in the date windows.

At least this is more real life than the picture in the original post, which had a more artistic style. Again, the dials are sub-10mm. There is just too much detail that you don't see when you look at the watch itself. The height of the Seiko logo is about 1 mm, the word "Chronograph" is even smaller.

I think it's safe to conclude that they are discolorations, the 1/10s dial is somewhat darker than the other two.

Another question then: Should I expect the discoloring to worsen, or should I worry about water damage or ill effects from the rust?

 

[jay48]

Beautiful watch! I've always been fond of the 7A series of chronographs and maybe someday I'll pick one up!

 

[Seiko7A38]

Another question then: Should I expect the discoloring to worsen, or should I worry about water damage or ill effects from the rust?

I wouldn't like to speculate whether yours will worsen. I have a stainless 7A38-7280 (with the same white 710L dial) which has the very slightest amount of discolouration to the silver painted ring of the 1/10s sub-dial - adjacent to the date window. The movement runs O.K. and so I've never bothered stripping it down. I don't have any photo of it, except in this group shot that I posted here a few years ago. It's the right-hand of the two 'head only's in the plastic (DAT tape cartridge) box. It's barely noticeable unless you zoom in on it.

I've owned it for 10 years of so and it hasn't got any worse. But then again, I've hardly ever worn it. All I would recommend is keeping your watch dry and well away from water (including not wearing in the rain), until you've had the seals replaced.

 

[skrodahl]

Wow, you seem to have a lot of 7a32s! I should've gathered from your username.
I noticed that you don't have the same bracelet as mine, did they come with different bracelets?

Now, I have no knowledge of watch maintenance or repair. By "the seals replaced", do you mean the rubber "O-ring" inside the back of the case?

 

[Seiko7A38]

Yes. I probably own the largest collection of 7A38's in the World.

No No No. That's a different case model to your 7A38-7190 - the 7A38-7280 / -7289, which uses a semi-integrated bracelet. It just happens to use the same 710L dial. Your watch appears to be fitted with the correct bracelet for the model. It should be stamped B1405.E where it meets the case.

Not just the flat rubber case-back seal, but probably more importantly, the crown and pusher O-ring seals, which are the most frequent cause of moisture ingress.

 

[SennieG]

Very interesting thread, I really like your 7A38 @skrodahl; true perfection has to be imperfect, in my opinion.

I have to say I would love to see your entire collection @Seiko7A38 ; I have a 7T32 7C60, which I bought in my early days of collecting thinking it was a Roger Moore Bond era seiko (silly me!), and would love one day to own a 7A38 like this with it's original bracelet.

 

[skrodahl]

Thanks @Seiko7A38. It says "B1405.", without the "E" on both ends of the bracelet.
I'll search around for the seals, it does not seem impossible to replace them, even for me...

 

[rainy daze]

Please do replace the seals if you intend to keep it. I probably wouldn't bother with the crystal or bezel seals, but the crown and pusher seals are tiny, and when they've dried up, moisture gets in easily and can wreak havoc with the pusher contact springs on the movement plate. Of course, replacing the case back seal is something to do on any vintage watch.

Beware, removing the pushers to access the seals requires manipulating very tiny C clips that retain the pushers in the case. They have a tendency to want to fly away if you're not extremely careful (and sometimes even if you are). Think about having a spare one or two on hand before you get started.