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
Other favorites of mine are the Mitsu Bishi 9852EW, Tombow 2558, Blackwing Pearl (can't go wrong), and Faber-Castell Castell 9000.
I've always kind of hated the Golden Bears. They're way too inconsistent for me. I got a pack of them and every single one had a different feel to it. No good to me. The regular Blackwing is okay, but it's nowhere near as good as the Pearl or the 602. If you can get your hands on some Blackwing Volumes 24s, do it. They sold out pretty quick, but if you can find them, get them. My second favorite pencil ever, right behind the Swiss Wood.