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 looking for a 1970’s style used vintage watch 2 years ago - something big, wide, funky, and old. There were plenty of used watches on eBay that fit the bill but this Recraft Series with its money green dial caught my eye. The bold green color on the dial along with it’s dull yellow-gold hour markers and hands reminded me of the crusty cigar smoking old-timers (old men) placing $2 horse bets at the Arlington Park Race Track in Arlington Heights IL when I was a kid growing up in Chicago back in the 70’s. My stepfather use to take my brother, sister, and I to the race track on Thursday nights as he was always looking for that horse he could win big on. All of the regular gamblers at the track always wore gold watches with green dials because green was the color of money….and luck. Horse racing was more of a thing back in the 70’s, not so much today.
This Seiko SNKm97 originally shipped with a big beautiful stainless steel bracelet but as always I swapped it out for another thick custom leather strap. I ordered the strap with green and “carrot” orange stitching to match the dial and orange sweeping seconds hand. The only sticking point I have with this watch is that the movement does not allow manual winding. When the crown is fully pushed in it simply spins freely - I kinda hate that because I always feel a sense of satisfaction when manually winding automatics.
Movement: Seiko cal. 7s26c 21-Jewel Automatic
Complications: Day & Date
Power Reserve: 41hrs
Case: 44mm Polished & Brushed Stainless Steel
Crystal: Scratch Resistant Hardlex
Band: 24mm Polished & Brushed Stainless Steel
WR: 50-meters