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
I live outside the range of any radio time signals, so a watch's ability to set itself anywhere on the surface of the globe represents a practical advantage to me. A real bonus is that Citizen has combined this technology with a dressy, well-laid out design with case, dial and bracelet finishing to rival much more expensive watches. It even has a sapphire crystal! While I love my mechanical watches, this package is far too interesting to ignore.
From a technical perspective, this watch is highly impressive. In its main reception mode, it synchronizes itself to the GPS time signal in as little as 3 seconds. I've found this to be easily achievable on cloudless days with an unobstructed view of the sky. In an urban environment, it takes a little longer.
There is a secondary reception mode that has to be activated manually. In this mode, the watch actually determines its geographical location and automatically adjusts to the correct timezone. The trade-off is that it takes a minute or two and requires better reception conditions than the time-only mode to even work at all. Admittedly, if you know what the timezone is where you are, it's much quicker to set it manually (in a very user-friendly operation). Still, this feature might come in useful should you find yourself waiting for a cab at a foreign airport with no clue what timezone you are in.
This watch is powered by Citizen's very mature Eco-Drive solar charging technology, with a 7-year (!) reserve. This is complemented by a nifty one-button feature that tells you the charge status as well as how much light the solar cells are currently receiving.
As far as I can see, this watch can only be improved in two minor ways - (1) by shaving 2-3mm off the case diameter; 44mm is the limit of what my 16cm wrist can take, and a smaller case would complement the dressy design much better; and (2) by making the bracelet interchangeable; the integrated bracelet is very nice, but some flexibility would be even nicer.
There is also the existential irony that whereas the half-century old Speedmaster Professional can function exactly as designed anywhere in space, this space-age watch would probably lose its headline features above 20,000km, where the GPS constellation orbits.
However, since I am probably never going to space, this is something I can live with (and if I were to go, I would bring my Speedy Pro anyway).