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 was floored by the quality when I got it! First of all, machining is top notch, tolerances are crazy, everything fits together without play or wobble (the frame lock is a joy to engage and disengage!), no blade play either, and the quality of finish is crazy high. That dragon, for example, is beautifully and deeply etched, it does not look like cheap laser etching, but rather like machine or acid etching. I did not believe my eyes and my fingers when I saw the etching.
This looks like a knife that would cost ten times as much! OK, the steel that they used is not a co-called "premium" or "super" steel (no Elmax there!), but it's very decent. According to the specs it's 12C27, used by some Laguiole, for example. That is a Swedish steel and it's been used successfully in many knives, retaining a good edge and being very rust-resistant.
All of this for twelve bucks Canadian! I mean you gift this to a young boy or girl going on camping, and they would jump around in joy for a long time!