the dude even gives 'em the crap (I call my metal detector a crap
detector) he found for souvenirs!(pop top, hair barrette-thingy)
(probably keeping the Rolex and other goodies he finds as a 'tip'
Years and years ago when I made found object jewelry, a customer
that was also a metal detector buff would give me his ‘crap’ too. I
would sort through it and use the interesting parts for my
“Foundies”. Alot of really fun stuff and some precious things
too-lots of melee that I would pull out and still to this day use
when I need to match a funny single cut diamond. I always offered
the precious materials to him but he said “naw, the fun is in the
find not the keep” He spend 20+ years doing it and found just a few
significant things but really loved the hunt.
Similar story - The best man from my wedding was on a scuba trip
somewhere in the Caribbean a couple years ago, hanging out at a
restaurant perched over the water. A guy who had just been married
was nervously spinning his new wedding band on his finger when it
slipped off, bounced once on the deck, and plopped into the water. He
was obviously distraught.
Hank heads back to his hotel, grabs his scuba gear, and to make a
long story short, recovers the guy’s ring for him! He was a hero as,
of course, the whole restaurant was in on the operation by that time.
He was offered payment, which he declined, but I can assure you he
didn’t pay for a drink the rest of the evening!
All the best,
Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA) dave@sebaste.com
Back in '72, I made a pair of gold cast wedding bands that were
quite heavy - relief carved figures (they wanted them to be heavy).
Well, the newlywed husband’s went down the drain very quickly!
Couldn’t get to the plumbing . . . so, yes, I made another one. No
symbolism here . . . . of the marriage going down the drain (sorry,
bad joke) . . . guess what - they are still happily married 30 years
later! We saw them this past winter and both rings are still intact
and still being worn.
These folks with the metal detectors often walk the beach at sunset
time. It is really good to know that they help out in these
situations. Pretty neat. I’ll be sure and call on one if I catch
wind of someone losing something at the beach.
Your fun little story reminds me of a day when we were living in
Hawaii and I used to metal detect on the beaches 3 or 4 nights a
week. (By the way, that is a great way to acquire gold…I still
have a bag of jewelry from those days). Three people were gathered
together about 20 yards from shore off of Ala Moana Beach looking for
something. One of them came in and asked if my detector could go
underwater. I replied it could not but I had one in my car. I got it
and about 20 minutes later told one of the kids to dive straight down
and look in the sand. He did and brought up his mother’s Hawaiian
wedding band - a heavy ring that was beautifully engraved. They were
happy and I was happy for them.
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio where simple elegance IS
fine jewelry! @coralnut1
When my father passed away, I was given a ring that was hand-made by
my great-grandfather–a simple piece in what we believe is nickel
(some white metal, anyway). A month later I was in Texas, staying
with family. On a dewy morning I was out walking in the tall grass
of the backyard. There was a tetherball there. I hadn’t played
tetherball in years, so I decided to give that sucker a swat. As soon
as I did, there went the heirloom, spinning off my pinky and out in
the dewy Texas morn. We looked for it for the better part of an hour
before someone showed up with a metal detector–and found it less
than 6 feet away from the tetherball pole.
I don’t wear the ring that often anymore–and certainly not when
playing tetherball!
John Shanahan
Webmaster & Staff Writer
MJSA/AJM Magazine
Some years back, a friend of mine lost a piece by Valerie Hector,
which she really loved. Every year, we went to Valerie’s booth at
the Evanston ACE show, but she couldn’t find a piece she liked as
much. She had lost her pin in the parking lot of a local Treasure
Island (grocery) store, she was pretty sure.
Fast forward. I am doing a small show put on by the Evanston Art
Center, where I teach. A young woman stops at my booth, wearing a
Valerie Hector pin on her shabby jean jacket. I started a
conversation, and she told me she had found the pin, and that it had
inspired her so much that she had begun taking jewelry classes, and
was hoping to make it her career. I told her about my friend, and
she said that if my friend could tell her where she had found it,
she would return it.
pin, but my friend would not consider trying to reclaim the young
woman’s inspiration. I later related all this to Valerie, and she
liked the whole story so much, she offered my friend 20% off on the
piece of her choice.
Small world, and you never know what your misfortune may do to help
someone else. --Noel
Hello Orchidland, Perhaps these stories should be titled
"unbelievable but true!" Anyway, a few years ago I drove to Kansas
City airport to pick up some relatives and on the return trip, we
stopped at the fast food place on the turnpike for a latenight snack
(it’s a 2 hour drive). I was wearing some gold snowflake earrings.
As we were leaving, my nephew noticed that one earring was missing.
I looked over my clothing and shook out my scarf. Nothing, so we
went back to the table where we’d eaten and searched all over. No
earring. We got the garbage can that held our trash from the table
and went through all that. No earring. By now, it’s very late; we
gave up and went on home. Fast forward to May, the following year.
I parked the car in the garage and as I got out, dropped a pencil.
When I bent down to retrieve the pencil, I noticed a glint on the
other side of the car. Yup. It was the earring. Slightly bent, but
whole. Doo doo doo… (Twilight Zone theme) Parallel universe? X-
file? Poltergeist? I’m just glad to have the missing earring. Judy
in Kansas
Judy M. Willingham, R.S.
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
237 Seaton Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan KS 66506
(785) 532-2936
