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 will start out with this. I have killed Seiko 7S26 movements. Two of them. Seiko fanboys want to believe a myth that the 7S26 movements are bulletproof, but it is a total myth. They can and have failed with daily normal use. The most efficient way to fix a Seiko cal. 7S26 is to buy a new movement entirely. They are that cheap to buy. Saves a watch repairer a ton of time.
Now Vostok cal. 2416b automatics also have a "tough" reputation. Yes it is possible to trash them too. They are made with looser tolerance and parts of rougher finish. That is the Russian way, and the previous Soviet system that the Vostok factory was created under. Truth be told, most USA watch repairers will refuse to touch a Russian watch. It fails, you will be buying a new one. But it may last a decade or more before it comes to that.
Now everything around the movement? Seiko wins, every last detail. Vostoks use an acrylic crystal that will need to have the scratches polished out regularly. Seiko uses mineral glass crystals that will not scratch nearly as easily, but will need replacement if scratched. Seiko uses a unidirectional stainless-steel bezel, Vostoks as made at factory use base-metal bi-directional bezels with no ratchet action. There are ones you see with an aftermarket stainless bezel that accepts Seiko bezel inserts (an online friend of mine created the first ones), but they still are bi-directional and no ratcheting. Russian bracelets are junk, you would want to replace it immediately. A Seiko bracelet that some 007's come with is actually pretty good. Seiko dials and hands have good lume that is almost the industry standard. Vostok lume is almost an oxymoron. You measure the glow time in seconds. Vostok crown action takes getting used to. Many people upon using one the first time assume the watch is broken due to the way the crown wobbles. The Seiko will work smoothly, but unfortunately you cannot hand-wind the watch (but you can hand-wind a Vostok).
My personal bias: I am no real fan of the Seiko 7S26 movements. There are better, and Seiko even makes some. I have some trust in Vosok 2416b movements, but I realize they are disposable in the USA, unless you hook-up with some eastern European immigrant watchmaker. For your purposes listed I would choose the 007 if a gun was pointed to my head and ordered to make a choice. But I really don't think either is the right tool for the job. I don't have a ready suggestion in the $150 range except for the Orient Mako II series (better movement than either watch you are looking at, rest of watch equal to Seiko).