Saturday, February 25, 2006

Lost and Found


There was an unexpected bonus to working downtown at the flower shop over Valentine's Day; I found a shiny trinket in a parking deck. I knew from the minute I picked it up that it was not mere costume jewelry. There was no one around when I found it, so I put it in my pocket and continued on to work. Several days later, I wore the bracelet to lunch with friends. One of them also knew instantly that it was probably expensive, and urged me to have it looked at by a jeweler. On the way home, we stopped at her favorite place to have an informal appraisal. The jeweler said it is 14k white gold, and it has semi-precious stones. He placed the value at somewhere near $500.

I was quite pleased, but didn't fully agree with my friend, who suggested I have the clasp repaired and add the bracelet to my insurance rider. I asked myself how would I feel if this was my lost bracelet. Since I did lose a valuable bracelet about 4 years ago - I knew immediately how I would feel. No one ever posted an ad about my bracelet and I was very sad to have lost it. So I called our newspaper and placed the ad. They will run it for 5 days at no charge. I also called the hotel that owned the parking deck and reported a found item, but they never even called me back to find out what it was.

Response to the ad was sparse. I got one call that scared me; a guy asked me if I was the one who found the bracelet, and when I said yes - he hung up. It is sort of frightening to think that a crook would do that. Another friend had told me not to put my home phone number in the ad because there have been instances where crooks found out where the person lived and robbed them. I used my cell phone number for the ad, so I quickly called my cell phone company to find out if a person could get my address from having access to the cell phone number. The answer was (after 20 minutes on hold) that someone would need my social security number in order to find out my address. I breathed a little more easily after that.

The only other call I received was from a woman who was hoping I had found a diamond tennis bracelet, and was very sad to find out I had not. Then she said she had lost it over a year ago. Holy cow! How could she expect it to be found in a parking deck now if she lost it that long ago?!

So I guess I am the new owner of a bracelet; one that is not a style I would have bought for myself, but is attractive nonetheless. I can't decide if I should keep it or sell it on ebay. What would you do?



22 comments:

scrappintwinmom said...

Hello!
Well, if it had happened to me, I'd feel bad about selling it on ebay. Congrats to you on your new found bauble! Here via Michele, as always!

TLP said...

I don't wear much jewelry, so I guess I'd try calling the hotel again. If that doesn't help, then I probably would sell it.

WendyWings said...

I don't think I could sell it on ebay, I would probably keep it if I knew I had done everything I could to find the owner.
Michele sent me today.

Anonymous said...

Here from Michele's today! I think it was extremely noble of you to try to find the owner. Obviously whoever did lose it is probably very upset over doing so, but the chances of you locating that person are very very very slim. With that being said, I'm not a jewelry person, so I'd sell it :D

Anonymous said...

I would contact the hotel one more time. If there was no response I would keep it.

Thumper said...

If it's valuable, in addition to what you've already done, call your police station, ask if they have a lost & found, and if they do, ask if anyone has inquired about a lost bracelet matching that description. You might have to actually turn it in, but after 90 days, it's yours. Then sell it :)

Anonymous said...

Once having established that I could not locate the rightful owner, and if I did not need the money, I think I would give an expensive bracelet that was not to my taste to someone whose taste ran that way or give it to a charity that runs an upscale thrift shop (the YWCA has one that benefits their women's crisis center, locally). If I needed the money, of course, I would sell it, without remorse.
Cop Car

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you have done a lot already to find the owner...but I agree that its awful to feel that someone somewhere is wondering where it is! Unless...there is some other interesting story behind it!
I would wait a bit longer...maybe check with the police and then sell it if its not your taste (or would it increase in value?)
Here from Michele's!

carmilevy said...

You're a good soul for doing all that you have done to return the bracelet to its original owner.

At a certain point, however, it becomes obvious that this person will likely never be known.

If it's something that isn't my style, I would sell the bracelet, then donate at least a portion of the proceeds to a worthy charity. That way, if the owner ever shows up, you wouldn't have a bracelet to return, but you'd be able to illustrate that you followed a pay it forward ethic.

Anonymous said...

...sell it....
...keep it....
umm I don't know..........

Merle said...

Hi Judy ~~ You certainly had a great find. Did you think to read local LOST
ads? Though someone who owned it may
not even worry about it, if they have
lots of others. Anyway, enjoy!!
Thanks for comments etc. Peter has been on my computer most of the time fixing
things and installing etc. He and his
daughter Vicki & husband Rex are due
here shortly. I am enjowing his visit
and I hope he is. Cheere.

Raehan said...

Don't be embarrassed, Kenju, by your husband's comment at the Blog Awards. I was laughing with you, not at you, because I thought it was funny.

And, I nominated both you and MommaK for the Best Commenter Award. : )

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Well, I will put my two cents in, too, Judy...I would wait a little bit longer and contact the hotel again...if nothing happens then, it's yours to do with whatever you feel you want to do. You will have tried to find the person who lost this and that's about all you can do...Good Luck with it, Judy!

brendalove@gmail.com said...

Judy = wear the bracelet with a clear conscience. You did all you could.

Do you know how many people would have taken the time to do what you did? Your soul is so pure and you inspire me.

che sara sara said...

have it
enjoy it
think that God gave it to you
came here via michele

kontan said...

somehow my original comment just disappeared as I was typing. odd.

great of you to attempt finding the owner. others have made great suggestions on what to do, so I will merely agree with them and say do what you think is best. enjoy!

thanks for stopping by my spot on the web. :)

Weary Hag said...

I think you've done all you could do to return it its rightful owner. As for selling or keeping it, I'd say if you really love the thing, keep it and wear it. If it's just not your style, sell it, but probably not on Ebay.

On one of my first dates with Ed, I wore one of my mother's old bracelets (not dollar-valuable but extremely sentimental). I lost it in the theater we went to. The next day I called them just on the off-chance that someone turned it in. THEY HAD! I was SO grateful and surprised at this. The person never left a name or anything so I couldn't even thank them, but at least I got it back.

On the downside, my daughter received (from her father) a very expensive gold cross with diamonds on a teensy and dainty gold chain. She lost it the first time she wore it and we were heartsick about this for weeks. I can't help but feel someone found it and decided to keep it.
Being on that side of the fence is never nice.

The Mistress of the Dark said...

Oh that's a nice find. Here via Michele's this time.

Carolyn said...

Judy, I think you should hold onto it a little while and watch the paper for a "lost" ad. You might check with the paper to see if anyone posted it lost around the time you found it. If it means something to someone, they'll try to find it. If after say, a couple months go by and no one has posted a lost ad anywhere, then I would say it's yours. That's how I'd handle it anyway :)

Kimmy said...

Oh! You found my bracelet! (Where was it again?) :P

SELL it! If you won't wear it... buy something you will!

srp said...

Since you have done your best to find the rightful owner, I would keep it if I liked it. Did they say what kind of stones and what length is it?

Anonymous said...

I don't think I could sell it. But wow. What a find! I feel sorry for the owner, poor thing. I'd be devastated!