$35 Mechanical Field Watch Challenge

[BostonCharlie]

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, [mention]Sporkboy[/mention]. I promise I'm not trying to stir the pot -- I find these fine points in the rules genuinely interesting.

[BostonCharlie]

...

Straps do not figure into the price of the entry. You may show the watch on an unlimited number of strap options. While I will not disallow it, you might want to limit yourself to having the watch on no more than 3 straps at a time. I am not sure how you would do more than 2, but we are a clever bunch. Actually, I know how to do it. Never mind.

Voting was tricky last time and will be handled a bit differently this time as I will run it through google forms to automate it a bit. We did a one vote/person. I may up that to 2, but I am not going to do limitless voting.

Good to know. Sorry if I'm splitting hairs, but at the top the rules say: "Should be in a useable condition. Adding a strap, ... or whatever you need to do is fine so long as you spend less than $35 in total." Consequently, I've been figuring in the price of a new strap when looking at some listings. It now sounds like I don't need to include the price of the strap -- is that correct? That would certainly open up my strap options.

I vote for two votes per person

[watchpalooza]

Just got my entry back from my jeweler. I'm pretty excited about it as it was free; both the case and strap. It needed some repairs, but I was able to stay well under the $35.00. Hopefully a gift qualifies for the contest. It wasn't like someone purchased a watch and gifted to me. I'll explain more when we submit!

A gift counts as long as it wasn’t a ‘gift to your self’. If you find one in the garbage, that counts.

Gifts count
Gifts to yourself do not count
Watches you find that weren’t yours to begin with count.
Watches you find in the back of your watch box drawer do not count.
Watches you steal from someone do not count.

I fully trust that Stretch44’s entry will uphold the spirit of the contest and not take advantage. If sounds like he received a family or friend’s heirloom with a story, which I think would be a great addition to the contest. I do suggest, however, that permitting gifts generally is a bit risky. Under the interpretation above, a Rolex received as a gift from my wife tomorrow would be permitted. A gift means someone else found and paid for it and did not pass on the cost....it removes both the burden of searching for an entry and accounting for the cost of it. Perhaps for this contest we draw the line where Stretch44 suggests....between gifts purchased for you vs inherited or gifted family or friend treasures. For future challenges it may be best to remove the ambiguity altogether and categorize the challenge as a “purchase challenge” vs something more open from the start to avoid confusion. Just my $0.02.

[Sporkboy]

Happy Sporkboy sticks his foot in it day!

Regarding yesterday’s responses. Please honor the spirit of the rules as written and you will be fine. I will make special exceptions in some circumstances such as Stretch44’s inherited watches.

As written the rules state that a strap cost would be included in the total, so that should be honored. That wasn’t my intention, but that is what I wrote. Since many people have already made purchases, the rule should stand as is.

[Stretch44]

Whoa, I feel like I opened Pandora's box! Just an fyi, it's not an Omega or Rolex and I did inherit the watch.

[Sporkboy]

Whoa, I feel like I opened Pandora's box! Just an fyi, it's not an Omega or Rolex and I did inherit the watch.

That is my fault. You presented me with Pandora's box and like a sucker I opened it. Will I ever learn? You would think so, but this lesson hasn't stuck yet. I'm getting better, just very slowly.

[PetWatch]

As I read the rules this is a: "watch hunting challenge." Not a look what I found or what somebody gave me challenge.

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[Stretch44]

Oh uh, I think I'll leave my gifted watch out. I have a back up... although not as cool.

[mention]watchpalooza[/mention], are you saying that you just received a Rolex?

[watchpalooza]

Oh uh, I think I'll leave my gifted watch out. I have a back up... although not as cool.

@watchpalooza, are you saying that you just received a Rolex?

I think you should go with the watch you mentioned. Pretty sure no one here will mind. Excited to see what you have!

No rolex for me yet...but my wife said she thought dropping a couple grand on a watch was not “expensive”...score! We will see...

[PetWatch]

Oh uh, I think I'll leave my gifted watch out. I have a back up... although not as cool.

[mention]watchpalooza[/mention], are you saying that you just received a Rolex?

We'll let Sporkboy decide, not for me to say. I was just pointing out a clear point in the rules. I do think that in fairness to others interpreting clear points as written they should be followed.

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[cortman]

I vote for adding a full legal team to the next challenge [emoji23] remember guys perfect is the enemy of good, as MOT already said.
On another note, my entry should have arrived at my house today- excited to inspect and submit it!

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[Stretch44]

Oh uh, I think I'll leave my gifted watch out. I have a back up... although not as cool.

@watchpalooza, are you saying that you just received a Rolex?

We'll let Sporkboy decide, not for me to say. I was just pointing out a clear point in the rules. I do think that in fairness to others interpreting clear points as written they should be followed.

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I interpreted the rules exactly the same. The only reason I considered using a broken watch I inherited was at [mention]Sporkboy[/mention]'s suggestion. This is all for fun and I'll just use the watch I purchased.

I vote for adding a full legal team to the next challenge [emoji23] remember guys perfect is the enemy of good, as MOT already said.
On another note, my entry should have arrived at my house today- excited to inspect and submit it!

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I'd be happy to act as counsel! I work off a retainer...

[MoT]

I vote for adding a full legal team to the next challenge [emoji23]

I think whoever comes up with the next challenge needs to post a set of guidelines, stick to them, and refrain from endless debating the minutiae.

[watchpalooza]

Let’s agree to not discuss anymore rules for this challenge. Everyone submit what you want within the “spirit” of the challenge and we let the judges decide. [mention]Sporkboy[/mention], let‘s stop adding more and more rules and declarations and trust our amazing members to have fun and also to judge the entries.

[Sporkboy]

I am honestly not trying to mess with the rules, but so am doing my best to interpret the spirit of them as I am see it. MoT has several times advised me to not make clarifications as they just lead to headaches. Let my stupidity be a lesson to future challenge runners.

1. Please interpret the rules to the best of your ability.
2. Honor the spirit of the challenge.
3. If you disagree with someone’s interpretation of the guidelines then don’t vote for their entry.

I will say no more of it as I wouldn’t want it to come between us.