Magnet fishing isn’t what it might sound like. The pastime has nothing to do with pulling in big fish, but rather hooking treasures thanks to a long rope and a strong neodymium magnet cast into your local (polluted) body of water.
The usual catches are hardly shiny trophies: discarded bicycles, shopping carts, tools, old boots, nuts and bolts, and other debris that have been rusting at the bottom of a pond, river or lake for years. (Yes, the hobby is also ecological!)
But last month, a Frenchman was lucky enough to find the holy grail of magnet fishers in the canal of the northern town of Neuville-sur-Escaut: two small safes. And while one was empty, the other contained an actual treasure, reports local daily La Voix du Nord. And inside? Mud, rocks … and a 1982 Cartier watch and a Bulgari one that he later authenticated. There were also coins from the 1960s and a magnifying glass made out of “9 or 18 carats gold” that transforms into theater glasses.
[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fdpistyles_v2%2Fena_16_9_medium%2F2021%2F08%2F26%2Fnode_1061279%2F53220455%2Fpublic%2F2021%2F08%2F26%2FB9728107988Z.1_20210826195116_000%2BG2QIQ5B2F.3-0.jpg%3Fitok%3DR7gqAW8H1630037138&ho=https%3A%2F%2Flvdneng.rosselcdn.net&s=143&h=a085da0bd843a450ba3295523cbf1c86c64f8de1e4a699f23991e5d3e6cd0954&size=980x&c=3273969625 photo_credit=”” pin_description=”” dam=”0″ site_id=20479169 caption=”” photo_credit_src=”https://lvdneng.rosselcdn.net/sites/default/files/dpistyles_v2/ena_16_9_medium/2021/08/26/node_1061279/53220455/public/2021/08/26/B9728107988Z.1_20210826195116_000%2BG2QIQ5B2F.3-0.jpg?itok=R7gqAW8H1630037138″ crop_info=”%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252Fsites%252Fdefault%252Ffiles%252Fdpistyles_v2%252Fena_16_9_medium%252F2021%252F08%252F26%252Fnode_1061279%252F53220455%252Fpublic%252F2021%252F08%252F26%252FB9728107988Z.1_20210826195116_000%252BG2QIQ5B2F.3-0.jpg%253Fitok%253DR7gqAW8H1630037138%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Flvdneng.rosselcdn.net%26s%3D143%26h%3Da085da0bd843a450ba3295523cbf1c86c64f8de1e4a699f23991e5d3e6cd0954%26size%3D980x%26c%3D3273969625%22%7D” expand=1]
The man authenticated two watches from his treasure — Photo: La Voix du Nord
The lucky magnet fisherman isn’t interested in selling his treasure but instead plans on “conducting a search to find the owner” of the safes. The question for him or her will be the same for the launchers of the various bicycles and shopping carts too often pulled out of the local river: Why?
