Description
The Lucky Harvey Panda Eat Bamboo Automata turns one of the world's most recognisable animals into an animated mechanical time display.
Instead of conventional hands, the panda’s left eye indicates the hours while its right eye indicates the minutes. As time passes, the eyes rotate naturally, continuously changing the panda’s expression.
The bamboo held in its mouth provides another layer of animation. As the hour progresses, the bamboo is gradually “eaten”, bringing the scene to life through Lucky Harvey’s automata mechanism.
Rather than placing an animated figure around a conventional watch display, Lucky Harvey makes the panda itself fundamental to both the function and character of the watch.
Inspiration & Design
The concept is wonderfully literal: a panda eating bamboo.
Lucky Harvey transforms that familiar scene into a mechanical display. The oversized eyes become rotating hour and minute indicators, while the bamboo in the panda’s mouth changes progressively with the passing hour.
The result is deliberately whimsical, but the design works because the animation isn't arbitrary. The panda’s features have been incorporated into the watch’s mechanical architecture, allowing the character of the dial to change continually throughout the day.
Dial & Case
The dial is constructed around the panda’s face, with individual rotating displays incorporated into its eyes. The left eye carries the hour scale, while the right eye carries the minute scale.
Below them, the panda’s mouth and bamboo form the second animated element, creating a dial that is in almost constant visual transition.
The watch is housed in a 40mm case made from 316 stainless steel and protected by a sapphire crystal.
Movement
The Panda is powered by an automatic mechanical movement incorporating Lucky Harvey’s automata functions.
The movement drives both the rotating eye-based time display and the animated bamboo mechanism, with approximately 40 hours of power reserve.
Bracelet / Strap
RAW's Panda is paired with a white imported cowhide strap and pin buckle, keeping the overall palette closely tied to the black-and-white panda dial.
The strap is designed to fit wrists approximately 135–200mm in circumference.
Final Thoughts
The Panda Eat Bamboo Automata captures Lucky Harvey's approach particularly well: mechanically unusual without taking itself too seriously.
The rotating eyes make the panda itself responsible for displaying the hours and minutes, while the animated bamboo turns the passing hour into a small mechanical performance.
At 40mm, the concept is packaged in a relatively approachable size. For someone looking for a mechanical watch that behaves and looks very different from a conventional design, the Panda makes its point immediately.
Technical Specifications
| Case size: |
40mm
|
| Case material: |
Stainless steel |
| Case back: |
Exhibition caseback |
| Movement type: |
Automatic |
| Movement no.: |
In-house movement incorporating automata |
| Power reserve: |
Approx 40hrs |
Dial:
|
Panda design on dial with lumed elements; hour and minute subdials with lumed indices; left eye: hours; right eye: minutes; bamboo at the panda's mouth is eaten on the hour |
| Glass: |
Sapphire |
| Water resistance: |
5ATM |
| Strap type: |
Strap
|
| Strap material: |
Fluororubber/leather hybrid |
| Buckle: |
Stainless steel tang buckle |
| Warranty: |
2 years
|
