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
Some of us have probably spotted the Bund strap on Paul Newman’s wrist with his just as famous Rolex Daytona, or paired up with the King of Cool Steve McQueen’s Hanhart 417 chronograph. But before decorating the wrists of glamorous Hollywood stars, the bund strap humbly served a crucial military purpose.
Particularly useful in hostile war circumstances, the strap was equipped with a protective leather backing that came between the wrist and the watch. So no matter how intensely hot or cold conditions could get during service on the field or in the air, the wearer would suffer no consequence. A temperature-sensitive metal watch case could never scald or freeze the wrist thanks to that extra piece of backing.
Another perk? Its ability to absorb significant amounts of sweat in extreme heat. Even if government-issued watches weren’t exactly waterproof, the bund worked like a charm preventing heavy sweat from entering and damaging the watch.