Saturday, September 19, 2020

Location location location

Just like the real estate business if you want to detect and recover good finds you have to go where the good finds are, especially if you search tourist beaches for jewelry.
Notice I didn't add coins as I consider coins to be nuisance targets when I go searching for platinum, gold and silver at popular tourist beaches. 
These two gold Bobby Dazzlers are Bvlgari and Cartier rings, were recovered several years ago close to high end hotels. They are just a couple of the thousands of gold rings I have recovered from tourist beaches around the world. 



I had and still have the same jewelry hunting philosophy, location, location, location and quality over quantity. 
When metal detectorists flock to packed beaches full of spring breakers I do not let the crowds fool me, I head to my favorite bling bling sites in search of a good score not a clad coin count and a toe ring.
Jewelry hunting is similar to artifact hunting, you have to do your research and get to know your sites like the back of your hand, I never just show up hoping to get lucky I stack the odds in my favor. 
Just like treasure coin or artifact hunting you will get skunked more often than you would if you headed to the main busy beach areas, but when you do recover what you are searching for you can be darn sure it will be something special.
Diversions beach hunters spend way too much time fretting over are target depth, crowd size and beach erosion. These all things that matter very little unless you understand where to find stuff and how to do it.
Starting with target depth which is very overrated, if you hope to find jewelry at the beach news flash all popular beaches are now heavily hunted thanks to popularity of treasure hunting shows.
Jewelry hunting refers to searching for lost jewelry, but anything lost on popular and heavily searched beaches does not have the luxury of sinking beyond metal detection range.
Crowded beaches translate to more coins, bottle caps, pull tabs, but not always more quality jewelry.
Beach erosion multiples the above mentioned targets, but very seldom leads to big finds if you are searching the same sites everyone else is searching with a metal detector. 
If you spend the time to research where you are more likely to recover quality finds over a greater quantity of finds you will see less completion for finds and be more successful over the long run.
I rely on a lack of targets at many of my favorite jewelry hunting sites because it puts people off from returning, especially if they go an hour or two between signals and see very few people in the area. 
I try to add to their pain by always making sure I take every last piece of metal I can detect out of a good jewelry site, just in case a coin or a good sounding crusty bottle cap gives someone hope that the site holds something better.
After all these years I still enjoy the thrill of recovering something special at a site or in an area  that other metal detectorists totally misread and disregard.
Hands up how many beach hunters even think about people reading skills or go to the trouble of tracking down romantic beachside getaway places where couples cough cough! jewelry depositors hang out at the beach away from the crowds. 
Back in the day I would often get a call to search for lost engagement rings, designer watches or gold chains, I would find and return valuable jewelry lost well away from the busier sections of beaches.
With millions of visitors to Florida and the Caribbean there was always plenty of un-returnable jewelry in need of a new home.
Jewelry is where you find it, but nine times out of ten it is not waiting around for you very long where everyone else is metal detecting. 
For more Bobby Dazzler hunting tips check out my beach treasure hunting guides on my website at www.garydrayton.com 




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