Read an article in this morning's newspaper about a woman who lost a piece of jewelry in her plumbing. Flushed it down the john. Ugh. Well, the happy ending of the story is that municipal workers, forewarned of the loss, actually found it during a repair and returned it to her.
The incident prompted me to recall my own personal lost jewelry story. I was living in Bend, Oregon and wore a 1 carat diamond on a chain around my neck - never took it off. One morning I woke up and realized it wasn't in place. I searched everywhere. Nothing. I was resigned to the loss.
About a month later, at a meeting in Pacific Palisades I excused myself to go to the bathroom and as I returned to my chair, I noticed a glint in the carpet. I reached down to see what it was and there was MY DIAMOND. I was astonished, but as I stood looking at it, I could figure out what happened. I think the diamond fell off my neck at home, the carpet was vacuumed and the diamond must have been flung from the floor into my briefcase which I kept by my desk on the floor. As was my wont, I stuffed files into the case for the meeting, never really cleaning it out before hand. When I pulled the files out of the briefcase in my colleague's office, the diamond must have been lodged against one of the files and fallen on the floor. Nothing short of a miracle that I noticed that glint.
After re-uniting with the diamond, I decided that I should do something else with it...no chain, no necklace. Months later, I put it in an envelope in my purse and left for another project in LA, planning to swing by the diamond mart downtown and have it set in a ring. I was really busy on that trip and was running at full speed. I made a shopping trip for food (I think it was a focus group for McIlhenny's I was doing) at Smart and Final. Rushing, I got the shopping cart out to the car, unloaded and took off for the group. When I got there, I realized I didn't have my purse. Another panicked search ensued and the stark realization hit me that I must have left it in the parking lot of Smart and Final in LA, not in a very good neighborhood. I was carrying several hundred dollars of cash - that potential loss ran through my brain, followed immediately by the OMG - that damn diamond was in there too. I got back into the car and sped to Smart and Final. An hour had passed since I'd left - little chance that the purse would still be in a cart, but I looked around quickly and then went into the store to ask. The manager had it...he'd spotted my purse in a cart and took it into his office for safe-keeping. I tried to give this guy the cash as a reward but he would take nothing. When I told him about the diamond, his expression changed for just a moment - he smiled and told me he had just gotten engaged and was looking for a ring. I wrote a letter full of praise and gratitude about him to the President of S and F.
Here's the diamond in the ring - it didn't really turn out very well and I've only worn it a few times. But as they say, diamond's are a girl's best friend and in spite of my carelessness this one seems to want to stick with me.
Almost everyone has a lost jewelry story and I heard quite a few of them as these incidents unfolded and I talked about them with people. Some of the stories were amazing.
The incident prompted me to recall my own personal lost jewelry story. I was living in Bend, Oregon and wore a 1 carat diamond on a chain around my neck - never took it off. One morning I woke up and realized it wasn't in place. I searched everywhere. Nothing. I was resigned to the loss.
About a month later, at a meeting in Pacific Palisades I excused myself to go to the bathroom and as I returned to my chair, I noticed a glint in the carpet. I reached down to see what it was and there was MY DIAMOND. I was astonished, but as I stood looking at it, I could figure out what happened. I think the diamond fell off my neck at home, the carpet was vacuumed and the diamond must have been flung from the floor into my briefcase which I kept by my desk on the floor. As was my wont, I stuffed files into the case for the meeting, never really cleaning it out before hand. When I pulled the files out of the briefcase in my colleague's office, the diamond must have been lodged against one of the files and fallen on the floor. Nothing short of a miracle that I noticed that glint.
After re-uniting with the diamond, I decided that I should do something else with it...no chain, no necklace. Months later, I put it in an envelope in my purse and left for another project in LA, planning to swing by the diamond mart downtown and have it set in a ring. I was really busy on that trip and was running at full speed. I made a shopping trip for food (I think it was a focus group for McIlhenny's I was doing) at Smart and Final. Rushing, I got the shopping cart out to the car, unloaded and took off for the group. When I got there, I realized I didn't have my purse. Another panicked search ensued and the stark realization hit me that I must have left it in the parking lot of Smart and Final in LA, not in a very good neighborhood. I was carrying several hundred dollars of cash - that potential loss ran through my brain, followed immediately by the OMG - that damn diamond was in there too. I got back into the car and sped to Smart and Final. An hour had passed since I'd left - little chance that the purse would still be in a cart, but I looked around quickly and then went into the store to ask. The manager had it...he'd spotted my purse in a cart and took it into his office for safe-keeping. I tried to give this guy the cash as a reward but he would take nothing. When I told him about the diamond, his expression changed for just a moment - he smiled and told me he had just gotten engaged and was looking for a ring. I wrote a letter full of praise and gratitude about him to the President of S and F.
Almost everyone has a lost jewelry story and I heard quite a few of them as these incidents unfolded and I talked about them with people. Some of the stories were amazing.
Hi Helen I love your blog. My friend Marjaana lost a ruby earing swimming in the camp pendalton pool. She reported it to the life guard when she left and the marines found it. It was lodged in one of the pumps. Beth C
ReplyDeleteA tiny ruby earring In a swimming pool!! Amazing.
ReplyDeleteA tiny ruby earring In a swimming pool!! Amazing.
ReplyDelete