I got in three short metal-detecting sessions this week. Pickings were pretty slim overall, but I found a bunch of rings, which is just enough of the intermittent positive reinforcement to keep me coming back.

First up were these two shiny gumball rings, lost in the sand close together.

Later in that same hunt I found a CTR ring. Who knows what bad choices might have been made on that beach??

A couple days later I drove up the coast a ways to get to a beach I’d never visited before. It was a dud overall, but right near the end I found this skull ring … and it’s real silver!

I’ve actually found a couple of other skull rings, but not a silver one. Is it a more popular accessory than I would have guessed, or are wearers of skull rings more likely to lose them??

I put an iPhone noir filter on the pic… seemed appropriate.

And finally, on my own beach, a sparkly Pandora heart ring, also sterling. The pic here is filtered to ‘vivid warm’, because again why not.

I’ve found half a dozen pieces of Pandora… which is definitely popular. It evokes strong feelings in me: on the one hand it’s certainly pretty and taps into something that resonates with people. But on the other, it’s wildly overpriced (given that it’s factory made and holds very little precious metal or gemstone value) and the combination of treacly sentimentality and mega-corporate marketing grates on me a lot.

Five rings in a week is definitely a record for me. Some of the Facebook detectorists I follow consistently find several rings a week, a combination of skill and perseverance that I don’t expect to match.

But it’s still fun to try…