Buy a watch, help save the world? 第三

Friends! 

I come back to you with another charitable auction.  This time, it is the Seiko SPB155 “Baby Alpinist.”  AND to sweeten the deal - a WatchCrunch t-shirt!!!  

I mean, sure, you could win a WatchCrunch t-shirt, via @Aurelian’s One Watch Challenge

https://www.watchcrunch.com/Aurelian/posts/the-one-watch-challenge-10158

But then again, only a full-on, mental, a$$-clown would undertake that contest, because my money’s on @Deeperblue to wipe the floors with all comers.  I mean, she’s out there posting stuff like this, asking one and all to bring it on:

No, no, this is the far safer, far surer route to getting your hands on some WatchCrunch swag.

GiveDirectly DIRECTLY sends on funds to recipients in some of the poorest countries on Earth, with an incredible track record to-date.  The effort sprang out of the Effective Altruism movement.

https://www.givedirectly.org/beta/

https://www.givedirectly.org/financials/

The first two auctions worked out spectacularly, in which our esteemed colleagues, @Bessio's and @Robcollects's winning bids helped to raise $1,350 and $900, respectively, for a number of Kenyan families.  These are families earning less than the global poverty line of $1.90 / day.  All of the auction proceeds went directly to the families and will essentially double their incomes for the next 3-4 years!

Charity auction #1:

https://www.watchcrunch.com/Omeganut/posts/buy-a-watch-help-save-the-world-5479

Charity auction #2:

https://www.watchcrunch.com/Omeganut/posts/buy-a-watch-help-save-the-world-part-deux-6622

As you all know, the Baby Alpinist is a truly magnificent GADA watch.  “Why are you auctioning it, then, Omeganut?”  Well, because as @Robcollects said in the thread in which I was first contemplating purchasing the watch, “The last thing you, Omeganut, need is a GADA watch.”  He was right.  The Baby Alpinist is so GADA that it threatens my ability to rotate through my collection.  I can’t have that.  I must wear every single watch I own an equal amount, otherwise they’ll get angry and jealous.  At this point, I’ve worn the Baby Alpinist maybe twice?  It’s effectively in mint condition.  Purchase date was March 30, 2022, so there’s still 2 years and 9 months-plus left on the manufacturer’s warranty as well!

[Check out that lume and that textured dial!]

I realize that at this point in life, I want only specialized watches.  That is, I want watches that can’t go anywhere, and can’t do anything.  I want watches that serve only the narrowest of conceivable niches.  “This?  This is my shrimp ceviche watch - I only wear it when I have shrimp ceviche.  This other one?  Oh, that’s my octopus ceviche watch."

Here's what I propose:

• Let's open up bidding on the Baby Alpinist at, say, $20
• Please post your bid by commenting below
• The highest bid by Friday, 6/17, 12pm PT wins the watch 
• Here’s where we do some real good for charity:  If you are the winning bidder, please then Paypal or Venmo me the winning bid amount.  I will make the donation of your winning bid, plus I will match that amount, to double the donation…  But that’s not all folks!  My employer will then do a full 100% match of that combined amount!  Thus, every $1 of the winning bid will get multiplied by 4!!!  Let me say that again - every $1 of the winning bid will turn into $4 donated to GiveDirectly!!!
• I will then post the screen shot of the full donated amount!
• I’ve pledged to donate $10,000 to GiveDirectly this year.  Thus far, I’ve only donated $3,340, and at the current pace, I will fall short of the pledge.  So, here’s a way to think about this:  I must piss off some people here on WatchCrunch with my weird, autistic posts.  That being the case, if you hate my guts, make a huge bid, which will thereby force me to donate a large amount of money!  You’ll a) win an awesome watch and a cool WatchCrunch t-shirt, b) take money away from me, and c) have all that money go to a family in need in Kenya!

So, in summary:

• Win a watch and WatchCrunch t-shirt

• Have the entirety of the proceeds go towards lifting a family out of extreme poverty

• QUADRUPLE the size of your charitable contribution through my and my employer’s matching funds

Whaddya say?