A bracelet at Watch Hill, and a tide that barely moves

With how far out you had walked. Watch Hill has its lighthouse, and Napatree Point runs 1.3 miles west from it into Little Narragansett Bay, a long, narrow spit to cover without a mark. Tell us where you came onto the sand, how far along you got, and whether it went down on dry sand or at the water's edge. One photo looking back towards Watch Hill does the rest.

Often, yes, once the area is narrowed. Hammonasset is the largest shoreline park in Connecticut, with a two mile stretch of sandy shore, a boardwalk and Meigs Point with its jetty at the far end. Two miles is a great deal of sand, so give us the boardwalk entrance you came through or the jetty as your marker, and say roughly how far up from the water the towel was.

With the pavilion. Rocky Neck in East Lyme covers 710 acres, and its beach is a half mile crescent of soft white sand that is stone free, which is about as clean as ground gets for a detector. Send a photo towards the water and one back towards the pavilion or the boardwalk, with the time you last remember having the band on.

Both are metal, so a detector picks them up in the sand. Ocean Beach Park on Neptune Avenue has half a mile of soft sand facing Long Island Sound with a wide plank boardwalk behind it, so the boardwalk gives a searcher one line and how far down the sand you were gives the other. Say whether it went down on dry sand or at the water line.

Yes, though it depends which part. Eastern Point looks out over the spot where the Thames River meets Long Island Sound, and it has rocks and a breakwater where something small can drop down between stones, which makes for slow work. On the open sand by the volleyball courts it is far quicker. Tell us which of the two you were on.

Work out which stand you were nearest. Misquamicut on Atlantic Avenue is the largest state beach in Rhode Island, with lifeguards in season, and the town's Wuskenau Beach sits right beside it, so the two run together and the beach name alone will not place you. Tell us which car park you came from, which stand you were level with, and how far up the sand you were.

Usually. Harvey's Beach on Plum Bank Road is the town beach, with a food vendor and lifeguards in summer, and Saybrook Point Park on College Street is a free town park over the Connecticut River, with picnic tables and seasonal mini golf. Tell us which of the two you were at, and whether it went down on sand or on grass.

Sometimes. Mystic is a village split between Groton and Stonington, joined by the drawbridge over the Mystic River. A phone or metal frames can be found by a detector if the spot is shallow and known, while plastic sunglasses give no signal at all and need a diver or sharp eyes at low water. Tell us exactly where it went in, and we will say honestly what can be done.