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
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/chester-mox-56-slim-wallet
Ian describes all of the details in his product description, but it is worth seeing just what goes into the saddle stitch:
Now this is technically a "how-to" video, but upon watching it my first thought was, "I will gladly pay someone else to do that for me." Bellanie, the craftswoman behind CM, learned her stitch from an extensive internship in Europe. More than a few of the attendees at this program go on to work for world-leading leather goods manufacturers, including a French outfit that is also famous for selling brightly colored scarves to old ladies on Park Avenue.
Anyway, if you haven't upgraded your wallet in a while a strongly suggest thinking about it. The cost-per-use ratio is about as good as it gets in menswear and good leather wallets (like shoes) improve with age. I would encourage going for something outside the norm, too, like an offbeat color. It doesn't have to be anything wild, but it does add a nice extra touch. Here are my two wallets:
What do you guys think? Is a nice hand-made wallet a necessity (at least in the #menswear sense of the word) or should to look elsewhere? Anyone have a Chester Mox that they want to show off or give a first-person testimonial?