There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
What surprised me is that the pin is spring loaded, so it forces the blades together. Normally shears are bent so that the blades push themselves together, but this causes them to wear out quickly. In this case an ordinary lock washer is used as a spring in the pin. As a result, when taking it apart you hear a distinct metallic click as the spring releases and the blades come apart. This lock washer has an ordinary oxide coating on it and I assume it will be the first thing to rust, and anything it touches will probably start to rust as well. If you could get the pin off you could replace it with another lock washer from the hardware store.
It's not necessary for them to use a lock washer here, I'm sure the company could find a stainless wave spring that fit perfectly fine, but maybe they were a bit overzealous in counting pennies - or just not very good at design: https://www.ebay.com/sch/items/?_nkw=wave+washer&_sacat=&_ex_kw=&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_sop=12&_fpos=&_fspt=1&_sadis=&LH_CAds=&rmvSB=true
The pin does not hold the shears precisely. The tips of the shears are not perfectly even (mine are about 1mm off), so you can't cut certain things right at the tips of the shears, if that is something you ever need to do. In theory, if the hole were drilled to fit the pin better with a drilling jig to get the tips in the right places, this needn't be an issue.
All in all, I say the main thing that justifies the price of these (to some people) is the fact that they are solid metal. You are paying for metal, and partly for design but not for a really good design. If you hoped these would go in the dishwasher, I am skeptical that the temper of the blades and spring washer will endure that very well, let alone without rusting. The design is thought-out, but not very well and not the best in execution either. Ultimately, shears that weren't thick solid stainless steel could be cheaper, have a better mechanism, and last longer. As it is though, it will probably last longer than most grocery store shears or shears with pot metal handles.
The spring is in fact not a lock washer. It is a stainless steel wire bent into a circle and looks like one at first glance. So it's actually okay. If you wanted you could replace it with a wave spring washer, and it would probably improve the feel of the shears.
Obviously, being solid stainless steel, these aren't hardened shears. This is easily proven by dropping them, they will get a tiny dent if they hit the edge of something. So there is no danger of losing their temper over time in the dishwasher. Being a highly corrosion resistant steel the chances of the blade getting dull in the dishwasher are also less than for most knives.
Overall for the price of this drop I'm really not disappointed. I enjoy having them around.
https://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-5558-1-Come-Apart-Kitchen-Shears/dp/B0000631ZM
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3DHYTEO2J0TEX/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0000631ZM
I'll bet there are a lot of excellent shears out there that look completely ordinary. It's hard to tell with all the shill reviews these days.