Wednesday, January 18, 2017

1/18/17 Report - A Few Tips For Finding Modern Jewelry On Dry Sand Beaches.


Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Somebody mentioned that I hadn't talked about finding modern jewelry much lately.  That is true.  I've been talking more about shipwreck treasures and old things, so I decided to do something different today and talk about a subject that I haven't addressed for quite a while.

You can find a lot of jewelry on a beach, but more of it in the water.  Hunting in the water and in the wet sand requires a little more technique to do it well than working on the dry beach.  Yet there are some things that can help you find more jewelry even in the dry sand.

It goes without saying that most jewelry will be lost where more people frolic.  Both the quantity of people and their activities are important factors. And of course there is a vast difference in the quality of jewelry at different beaches. It is also obvious that you can't find much expensive stuff on a beach visited only by people of modest means. 

I mentioned volleyball courts the other day.  They are good places to find jewelry.  

Most of the people that I've seen detecting volleyball courts, detect the middle of the playing area.  I wouldn't skip that area, but you will find a lot to the back and well outside of the court itself.  Think about it.  Where do people dive after balls?  A lot of that happens outside of the boundaries.  And that is a place where things are often lost.  

Another place to check on a volleyball court is the area right around the base of the posts that hold the nets.  That is where people tend to lay things.  Then sand gets kicked over the items.  A lot of detetorists don't check that area, especially if the polls are metal.  You can make adjustments to detect where others won't or can't.

A third tip I have for volleyball courts is to look in the morning right after rain or watering.  Fine chains and other things are sometimes exposed.

You might choose to grid the busier areas.  Nothing wrong with that, but don't neglect the areas that a lot of other detectorists might neglect.  Beach chairs are often made of metal or have metal parts that make detecting difficult.  Many detectorists will not detect close  or under beach chairs because they don't know how.  You can learn to do it.  I also would always check where beach chairs have been moved.  Look at the tracks in the sand if they are still there.  Often a high tide or something will cause chairs that are normally in one location to be moved.

I've found a lot of pairs of ear rings around beach chairs.  That is the main place where there is a good chance of finding a matching pair.  It seems people take them off and lay them down or else drop them there.  They are often very good earrings.  Other places you'll usually just find a single earring.

When hunting dry sand, DON'T discriminate out watches!  There are Rolex watches and other valuable watches in the dry sand.  They won't likely be found real often, but there are more of them out there than you might think.  I don't know how they get buried, but they do.

Another tip that I've found productive is to detect very trashy areas that a lot of people will avoid.  

Get to know the life guards and beach concession workers.  They might tell you about items being lost and where.  I always remember the time when a fellow that rented jet skis and other water toys lost the keys before he opened for the day and said he'd give me fifty dollars if I found them for him.  I think this was back in the eighties.  I found them in just a few minutes and he gladly paid me.

Some of the old timers that I knew would sit where they could see what people were doing and where and then detect at the beach at the end of the day.  You'd be surprised how often you'll see people obviously looking for something they lost.  And often they'll ask you  if you can find it for them.

There are a few tips for finding jewelry in the dry sand.  All of those things hve been productive for me.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net