Hildgund jewelry hunt begins today

Hildgund Jewelry
This pearl bracelet, valued at $695, is among the 24 pieces of jewelry that will be hidden around town for anyone to find during Hildgund Jewelry's "12 Days of Christmas" holiday hunt.

Today marks the start of what has become the annual "12 Days of Christmas Hildgund Jewelry Hunt," with two jewelry pieces awaiting holiday sleuths daily.

The items, ranging from $100 to $5,300 in value, will be placed in white boxes tied with a gold bow and hidden around town for lucky — and fast — hunters to find, with no strings attached.

Look for daily clues posted at www.facebook.com/HildgundJewelry and www.twitter.com/HildgundJewelry, where you can also follow the action at #HJHUNT.

When I interviewed Hildgund Jewelry president Bruce Bucky for a story last week, he said it's not that easy to hide $20,000 in jewels, and I believe him since I was enlisted over the past two years to hide two of the boxes. It's hard to think of a spot that's out of the way, so the package isn't easily swept up or trampled, yet still public enough for everyone to have access.

The first year, I tried to think of the sort of person I would like to find the package, which would be a humble sort of reader. So I stowed it outside the Liliha Library, took a partial picture of the library for sleuths to figure out, and tweeted it. Well, there were several people looking for it at the right spot but they couldn't find it. I heard later it was found by a homeless man who slept there, who sold it for something like $20. Oh well, at least it made two people happy.

Also to be hidden is this pair of gold and diamond earrings valued at $5,355.

Then, last year I was having lunch at Fresh Cafe, and thought it was a good place for a jewelry drop, so I put it on a shelf near the door. It was pretty obvious if you were looking for it, and certainly easy enough for an employee to have picked up as well, but like Bucky said, how many people really observe their surroundings? It took three days for someone to tweet back that he'd finally found it.

Bucky said others hid them in grocery stacks where they languished for days as well, and it speaks to the fearfulness of the times, that even when found, some people won't pick them up out of fear of a practical joke or worse.

At any rate, it's well-intended, and Bucky also wraps up food gift certificates for direct distribution to the homeless.

Good luck to all who go on the hunt! For more information, call 523-1123 or visit www.hildgund.com.