Half Of One Of My Best Finds Ever

[Compass]

Hurricane Marie generated some good swells and moved sand at several southern California beaches. I got gold at 2 of the 4 beaches I hunted but not as many targets as I would have expected from the size of some of the cuts. I see that a couple of other forum members also did well from Marie which was an unexpected but welcome surprise.

After finding a few dollars in clad and a small, 1.8 gram 14K gold ring at the first beach I hunted, I tried a couple other beaches that didn't yield much before driving to beach #4. This beach had a nice deep cut but, again, not nearly as many targets as a cut that size could have produced. Perhaps someone had beaten me to the punch earlier but I didn't see any signs of digging.

Late in the hunt I scooped out a target and was shocked to see half of a bracelet in the mound of wet sand. It had the famous Cartier circles on the perimeter of the bracelet but I have found so many fakes with those same circles before. The bracelet also had a funny color to it so I tried not to get too excited about it even though it felt pretty weighty and was stamped "AU 750".

When I got home I realized that the bracelet was rose gold and it  acid tested at 18K. On the internet I found out that Cartier jewelry is one of the most copied in the world but the bracelet seemed to pass all the checkpoints that determine its authenticity including its weight which was half of the typical 30 to 37 grams for a complete bracelet.

At first I thought that it would be nice to find the other half and have the bracelet repaired. I still would love to find the other piece but it probably won't need to be fixed. The 2 halves are actually screwed together with permanently mounted screws. That's probably why the person that lost it didn't remove it since it is a bit of a hassle to do so. Of course, the downside is that you better make sure that those screws are fastened properly and checked periodically. 

Sorry for the lengthy post but pretty excited about this one. My hunting friend doesn't think it's likely that I'll find the other half but the way this year is going I wouldn't be totally shocked (well, maybe a little). GL&HH!

[kac]

Really good find. You realize that the other half probably isn't all that far from the half you found.......... Better get back out there before someone else finds it! Unless they already did 😬

[Compass]

7 minutes ago, kac said:

Really good find. You realize that the other half probably isn't all that far from the half you found.......... Better get back out there before someone else finds it! Unless they already did 😬

Thanks kac, Yes, I have already been back and spent hours looking for the other half but like you said, someone may have already found it. Sometimes it is difficult to tell how long gold jewelry has been lost. In this case it could be years or hours. If the halves were lost years ago there could have been quite a distance between them.

[kac]

I know it bugs the hell out of ya too, would bug me. That is a really lucky find. Wouldn't surprise me if others walked right over and thought it was a junk signal.

[Compass]

5 minutes ago, kac said:

"I know it bugs the hell out of ya too, would bug me."

Well, yes and no. Sure, I would be over the moon if I found the entire bracelet but hard to be annoyed with $700 in gold bullion. It would have bugged me if I didn't go back and pound that area hard. On future hunts it's certainly going to be more exciting any time I get another signal in that same area.

[Valens Legacy]

Great hunt and fantastic find on the bracelet, hope that you find the other half in the future.

[Compass]

1 hour ago, Valens Legacy said:

Great hunt and fantastic find on the bracelet, hope that you find the other half in the future.

Thanks VL, I didn't know your Grandpa personally but he did respond to a couple of my posts in a similar way- much appreciated!

[ECris]

Great find. The bracelet is called the Love bracelet. I hope that you find the other half. Retail is $5k.

[Compass]

26 minutes ago, ECris said:

Great find. The bracelet is called the Love bracelet. I hope that you find the other half. Retail is $5k.

Thanks ECris, Pretty shocking how pricey these things are. That name carries a lot of weight!

[Tmox]

I found almost the exact same thing. I found the one on the left, my buddy found the one on the right.

Tim

 

Ps, do you know what it is?

Tim