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 picked this one up in Atlanta airport in 2010 or 2011, flying back to Amsterdam. Not sure how much it was, but flying international means it was tax free for me, so I must have thought it was a good deal. MSRP states $795 but that's always a lie and I'm sure I must have paid a lot less (more like < $200 as that was about my budget back then).
Anyhow, it is stamped 11/09 on the side so I assume that was the production date. It came with a horrible, bulky polyurethane band on it so I swapped it for a nice canvas black Nato strap.
I liked it al lot back then, but my taste has evolved. Still like the cool lume, but looking at it now, it's such a weird mix of design cues that I don't know why it was called an "aviator" watch. The compass on the dial is more what I expect from a "land" or field watch (like the Seiko Prospex Land watch line-up).
Tomorrow I'll show another older quartz watch that I also picked up in Atlanta airport, but one that has a better design that I still like and also has a nice GMT function.