Sydney boy finds Cartier watch worth $20,000 found buried under sand at Balmoral Beach, Mosman

While some kids might be happy finding a new shell to add to their collection when visiting the beach, one boy managed to uncover a luxury watch.

Appearing on Ben Fordham Live this morning, Josh Shave, 10, recounted his incredible find.

It all happened on Tuesday afternoon, after Josh and his parents Simon and Meggan Brummer were contacted by a local community news site, The Mosman Collective.

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The couple, who are known locally for their efforts locating lost items on beaches around the exclusive area in Sydney’s northern beaches, was called in to help a distraught man locate his watch, which he’d lost while swimming at Balmoral Beach.

But this was no ordinary timepiece, it was a Cartier watch worth $20,000 which the anonymous 79-year-old had owned since 1975.

Sharing that he owned a metal detector, Josh said he and his dad headed down to the beach to help out.

Joking that he mostly only found rubbish, and given the man had lost the watch early that morning, he said they had not been hopeful of finding it.

“We got close to where it was, [they] said it was going to be around some steps near the promenade, and then I just got right to it and kept searching a bit in front of the steps,” Josh said.

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“I came down with my dad, before my dad even sat down – because he was expecting to be down there for hours, I got my first signal immediately, dug down a bit, and I found it.”

“And I think he was expecting to be there a lot longer, and so was I.”

After reuniting the valuable watch with its owner, Josh said the man was ‘very happy’ and shared he’d given him a reward for his efforts – but said he was keeping what that was to himself.

Fordham praised the young boy’s efforts, saying: “Well done, I know who to ring if I lose something at the beach.”

The man’s son spoke with The Mosman Collective (TMC), saying his dad had been distraught by the loss. After placing the watch in the pocket of his shorts when he went for a morning swim, he realised when he returned to the car that it had fallen out.

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“Dad was in a real state and very upset,” Justin told TMC.

“He parks in the same spot and swims in the same spot every day, but even after retracing his steps, it couldn’t be found.”

The frantic man even called in help from a friend, and the pair used a rake on the sand, without luck.

That was until Josh saved the day, and as the boy told TMC, there was a unique way he guessed it was valuable.

“I got a big shock when I found it,” he said, “I knew it was valuable because it looked so different from an Apple Watch.”

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