Gold cross necklace pendant found with a metal detector at Sandsfoot Beach, Weymouth

Keith was out paddle boarding at Sandsfoot Beach in Weymouth, on the south coast of England, when the gold cross on his necklace came off. He managed to catch it, and did what most of us would do: he put it somewhere safe for later. In his case, that was inside his cap.

Then he forgot it was there. At some point he picked up the cap and put it on, and the little gold cross must have dropped out onto the sand. By the time he noticed, he had no idea exactly where.

A few days later he got in touch with us. He told us what had happened and sent a photo of the beach with the spot marked: they had been sitting a few feet closer to the water, with their kit behind them, and the cap could have been in either place. That gave us a small area to work with, which matters a lot with something this size. A cross pendant is light and thin, and in loose dry sand it can sink out of sight within minutes of people walking over it.

We connected Keith with our detectorist on the Dorset coast. He called Keith to go through the spot, then went down with his metal detector and searched the sand around where they had been sitting and where their kit had been. He found the cross.

Keith came to collect it in person, and by all accounts he was buzzing. He even left a card for the detectorist to say thank you.

If you lose a necklace, pendant or ring in the sand, try not to dig around for it yourself, as that tends to push it deeper. Note where you were sitting and where your bags were, take a photo of the area if you can, and get in touch. A metal detector in the right hands can cover that patch of sand properly.