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
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I just finished my time with the knives from the fourth passaround. The knives were the Victorinox Fibrox 8”, Yaxell Dragon Fusion, and Gesshin Ginga White #2 gyuto. These 3 knives don't have a whole lot in common so I'm not going to spend much time comparing them against each other. I did not have a chance to sharpen any of the knives so you will have to refer to other reviews for that information.
Gesshin Ginga White #2 gyuto
This knife is a textbook laser gyuto. There is no extra material anywhere on this knife. It is relatively, short at the heel, thin throughout with a nice distal taper and has a fine tip that is great for all of your detail work. It is an extremely nimble and precise tool and felt somewhat like a long petty in my hands. Since my daily driver gyuto's are all 240 mm+ it was a nice change to use something so nimble. It has a nice flat section and is an absolute pleasure for tap chopping.
The knife is beautiful in an understated way with great fit and finish. The makers mark is deeply engraved. The handle feels very good in my hands.
The hardest part of the entire passaround was forcing myself to use any other knife for the entire week in which I had it. The only people that I would hesitate to recommend this knife to are carbon steel haters and people with very large hands who may run into some issues with knuckle clearance.
Victorinox Fibrox 8”
This is a great knife non knife nuts and for people that aren't as careful about taking care of their tools. It has a tall profile that is more conducive to rocking than to push cutting, but it can be used for either. It's a wonderful knife for those times that you just want to grab something and get to work. The handle feels good enough. It's not the fanciest knife you can buy, but it does the job admirably and at a great price. If you are in the market for a knife that can take a beating it's hard to go wrong with this one.
Yaxell Dragon Fusion
My first impression of this knife was how heavy it was when lifting it out of the box. The second thing I noticed was the absence of any flat area on the blade.
I think the main design goal was to make something different and eye catching. The tip looks like a cleaver, the blade shape is more similar to a mezzaluna. The curve of the blade makes push cutting impossible, but the 63Hrc steel made me hesitant to rock chop with it. To cut anything cleanly you must make really exaggerated motions of pushing the handle way below level. I found it very hard to cut anything without making a ton of accordions.