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
Also, I'd recommend against a knife set. I'd recommend one of each: chef knife, bread knife, a paring knife (not critical), kitchen shears. You can really do 90% of what you need in a kitchen with these things. A boning knife is a bonus.
By staying away from sets, you'll either save yourself some money or be able to buy nicer knives because you're buying fewer of them.
Also get a large, enamel coated dutch oven (Lodge makes a good one for about $50. But frankly, most brands are fine so long as you take care of them).
In addition to that, buy yourself a cheap nonstick skillet with curved sides and a decent handle. Replace it once it get's funky.
Go on eBay and get yourself a solid used chef's knife, or pick up something like the Victorinox here on a drop, and go with something like an Opinel paring knife which is cheap, effective, and easy to maintain. Get a wooden cutting board and keep it on your counter.
For pans, carbon steel is my main choice. I have a DeBuyer 10in that stays on my stove top. Beyond that, just a couple of stainless steel pots and pans in the 10-12in size range I've picked up over the years on sale, but none of the fancy triple-ply non-stick coated space age garbage--they don't last. An enamel coated Descoware cast iron dutch oven I found at a thrift store of all places rounds out my lineup. Personally, I like to keep things simple and easy to use. I don't have any non-stick coatings, and own nothing that can't go from stovetop to oven. I can use stainless steel utensils with all of my cookware but the dutch oven, which gets wood utensils.
Simple and effective is more useful than complex and specialized.