Côte d'Azur
Your wedding band came off somewhere on the pebble slope below the Promenade des Anglais
In Nice the stones slope down into the sea, and the first question is whether the band went on the slope or in the water beyond it.
A detectorist can look for a wedding band lost on a Riviera beach. How that search goes depends on what the beach is made of, pebbles at Nice, Menton and the east side of Antibes or sand at Cannes, Juan-les-Pins and Fréjus-Plage, and on how closely you can place your towel on it.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone on the Côte d'Azur with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
A day ashore at Villefranche from a cruise ship leaves enough time to send the details, and the search is arranged after you have left.
The first half hour on the stones
Leave the pebbles as they are and sit back down where you were. Before you stand up again, let your phone record where you are, as a saved place or a shared location. Then turn round and photograph the promenade above you, with the nearest steps or lamp post in the frame. On sand at Cannes or Fréjus, keep the children from digging near your towels.
Each town names its public beaches, and a name is the quickest way to tell us where you were: Centenaire in Nice, Marinières in Villefranche, Salis in Antibes, Zamenhof in Cannes, Sablettes in Menton. If you cannot name your stretch, give the nearest public beach.
Places we cover on the Côte d'Azur
- Nice
- The Promenade des Anglais
- Plage des Ponchettes and Plage du Centenaire
- Plage de Magnan and Plage Sainte-Hélène
- Plage de Carras and Plage de la Lanterne
- Villefranche-sur-Mer
- Plage des Marinières
- Plage de la Darse
- Antibes
- The pebble beaches from La Brague to the Fort Carré
- Plage de la Gravette
- Plage du Ponteil and Plage de la Salis
- Plage de la Garoupe and the coastal footpath, Cap d'Antibes
- Juan-les-Pins
- Cannes
- The Croisette, Plage Zamenhof and Plage Brigitte Bardot
- Plage Gazagnaire and the Mouré Rouge beaches
- Plage du Midi and Plage des Rochers, La Bocca
- Île Sainte-Marguerite, off Cannes
- Menton
- Plage des Sablettes and Plage du Fossan
- Plage Rondelli and Plage Hawaï, towards Garavan
- Fréjus
- Fréjus-Plage and the Promenade des Bains
- The wild beach towards Saint-Aygulf
The town beaches, from Nice to Fréjus-Plage
Public beaches that the towns name, with what each one is like underfoot.
The Promenade des Anglais, Nice
The Promenade des Anglais runs along a line of public beaches, with private ones in among them. Ponchettes, Centenaire, Magnan, Sainte-Hélène and Carras are public pebble beaches that slope down into the water. In the west of the city, La Lanterne sits behind the port of Carras.
Plage des Marinières and Plage de la Darse, Villefranche-sur-Mer
Villefranche is a regular stop for cruise ships, and its beaches, from Marinières to La Darse, all lie inside the harbour. Marinières is the largest. La Darse is a pebble beach behind the ramparts, reached along the Professors' promenade, so if you walked that path to get there, the path is part of the story.
Antibes, from La Brague to the Gravette
East of the town, from the La Brague district to the Fort Carré, the beaches are pebbles carried down and thrown up by the Var, and the water turns very deep a few metres from the edge. Plage de la Gravette is different: reached from the port of Antibes, it is a sandy beach sheltered from wind and swell, below the ramparts.
Ponteil, Salis, the Cap d'Antibes and Juan-les-Pins
Leaving the old town of Antibes towards the Cap, Plage du Ponteil and Plage de la Salis are two long sandy beaches with shallow water. Out on the Cap, the Garoupe beach is where the coastal footpath starts, with paths and steps over the rocks. On the Juan-les-Pins side, the public sandy beaches run from the centre to the edge of town towards Golfe-Juan.
The Croisette, the Mouré Rouge and La Bocca, Cannes
Every beach in Cannes is fine sand. Along the Croisette, between the Palais des Festivals and the Jardin de la Roseraie, the beach is mostly private. Plage Zamenhof is run by the town, and Plage Brigitte Bardot is a public beach. Towards the Pointe Croisette lie Plage Gazagnaire and the Mouré Rouge beaches. On the Boulevard du Midi the beaches follow one another along a planted seafront promenade, and Plage des Rochers at La Bocca lies between ochre rocks. Offshore, boats from the port cross to the Île Sainte-Marguerite, where paths through pines and mimosas lead to fine sand beaches and wild coves.
Sablettes, Fossan, Rondelli and Hawaï, Menton
Menton's beaches were created by laying submerged breakwaters offshore to calm the swell, which is why most of them, above all in the west and centre of town, are pebbles rather than sand. Sablettes and Fossan are public beaches there. Farther east, Rondelli and Hawaï, towards Garavan, are public too.
Fréjus-Plage and the beach towards Saint-Aygulf
Over in the Var, Fréjus-Plage is a kilometre of fine natural sand without a break, with public and private beaches along it. The Promenade des Bains follows the seafront towards Saint-Raphaël, and pétanque is played here too, so mention the promenade if you walked it. Towards Saint-Aygulf the shore turns into one of the largest wild beaches in the east of the Var, backed by a line of dunes.
How we take on a Riviera case
A single WhatsApp thread
The case lives in one WhatsApp conversation from start to finish. A photo you find later or a second pin goes into that thread, and from there to the detectorist.
The right stones first
Before the first sweep, the detectorist has your saved location, your photo and the beach's name, so the work begins where you actually were.
Deep water close in
Where the sea deepens a few metres out, as east of Antibes, you get our view of the odds before anything is arranged.
The cost conversation
We explain the costs before any search is booked, in the same chat, so you can weigh them against what the piece means to you.
What the Riviera shore is made of
Nice and Menton sit on stones, Cannes and Fréjus-Plage on sand, and Antibes has both.
Pebble shores
Nice, most of Menton, La Darse in Villefranche and the east side of Antibes are pebble shores. Tell us how far down the slope, or how far into the water, you were when you last had the ring.
Sand
Every beach in Cannes is fine sand, as is Fréjus-Plage. The Gravette, Ponteil and Salis in Antibes and the public beaches of Juan-les-Pins are sand too. On sand, the useful details are where your towel was and whether you went into the water afterwards.
Questions about the Côte d'Azur
The band slipped off as I climbed back up the pebbles after a swim in Nice. Does that narrow it down?
It does. The public beaches along the Promenade des Anglais are pebble, sloping down into the sea, and the town has put access ropes on several of them for people who find that slope hard to climb. Tell us the beach, Centenaire, Magnan, Carras or another, whether you used a rope, and how far up the stones your towel was.
A bracelet went while I was swimming at Plage des Marinières on a cruise stop in Villefranche.
Marinières lies inside the harbour where the cruise ships call. The ship sailing does not end the matter. From the place where your things lay, save your location and photograph the Citadelle or the old village as you see them from there, then send both with a picture of the bracelet.
My phone went into the sea off the pebble beach between La Brague and the Fort Carré in Antibes.
On that side of Antibes the beaches are pebbles brought down by the Var, and the water becomes very deep a few metres from the edge. So the exact point matters more than usual. Dropped at the edge of the stones, the phone is worth a message. If it fell past that drop, it is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first. Say what make the phone is.
The children were paddling at Plage de la Salis, and now our daughter's Oura ring is missing.
Salis and its neighbour, Plage du Ponteil, are long sandy beaches with shallow water. Tell us whether the children stayed in front of your towels or drifted along the beach, and how deep the water came on them.
One of my earrings came out at Plage des Rochers in La Bocca, among the ochre rocks.
Those rocks help. Plage des Rochers lies between ochre rocks on the Boulevard du Midi, and each one works as a marker. Tell us which rock you were beside and whether you sat on the sand or up on the stone. A holiday photo of you wearing the pair shows the detectorist its size and colour.
A chain went at Plage du Fossan in Menton last season. Is it too late now?
Tell us the month, because it matters here. Every year before the summer, the town levels the pebbles on its beaches and screens out driftwood and oversized rocks left by the winter, so a loss from last season sits on ground that has been reworked since. Send the date, where you sat and a photo of the chain, and you will get a plain answer.
The car keys went missing at Fréjus-Plage, somewhere between a game of pétanque and our towels.
Nothing on Fréjus-Plage breaks up its kilometre of sand. The pétanque game and the towels give a detectorist two fixed starting points. Say whether the keys were in a pocket or a bag, and whether you walked along the promenade in between.
My bracelet went during a swim from a cove on the Île Sainte-Marguerite.
Tell us which boat you took over, the path you followed from the landing through the pines, and whether you were on a sandy beach or in a rocky cove. A photo looking back towards Cannes from your spot places it well.
A wave took my metal-framed sunglasses at Plage Zamenhof on the Croisette.
Zamenhof is a beach on the Croisette that the town runs itself, and like every beach in Cannes it is fine sand. Tell us whether the glasses went at the water's edge or farther out, and how deep the water was where you stood.
Côte d'Azur
Open the chat from wherever you are now
The Riviera from Fréjus-Plage to Menton.
Send a WhatsApp message naming the beach and the piece. If you photographed the spot before leaving, add the picture; if you did not, say which part of the promenade you were facing.