If you stumble upon a box from Koser Jewelers in a public space in the county, perhaps a library, a super market or a football stadium, don't take it to the lost and found.

It's yours.

And so is the piece of jewelry inside that box.

Today through Christmas — that's 12 weeks — 57 bronze boxes with big bows will be placed in public locations all over the county.

The first one, containing a necklace, is out there somewhere right now.

If you're lucky enough to find one of them, whatever is inside, be it a bracelet, a watch, earrings, a pin or even a diamond necklace valued at close to $1,000, it's yours. No strings attached.

"We want to bring a little joy to people," said Betsy Wolgemuth, who owns Koser's Jewelers at 811 E. Main St., Mount Joy, along with her husband, Randy. "You can keep it, wear it, give it or share it."

Wolgemuth said most of the pieces are valued at $100, but several, like that $1,000 diamond necklace, are worth more.

"We'll be giving away up to $10,000 worth of jewelry," she said.

It's all going to be very spontaneous.

"I won't be telling anyone where I am going to put things," Wolgemuth said, noting that even the people who work at the locations where she'll be dropping off boxes won't know about it.

She'll simply slip a box onto a store shelf, into a dressing room — wherever it strikes her fancy.

And the locations truly will be throughout the county.

"I have four kids I drive around, so I'm all over the place," Wolgemuth said. "But the number of boxes I drop off will be different every week, depending on my schedule."

She hopes people will tell her about how they found the box and the jewelry inside.

"I say on the box that I'd love to hear the story of how they found it," Wolgemuth said.

The promotion, which they are calling Finders Keepers, was the idea of a friend of Wolgemuth's who owns a jewelry store in Racine, Wis.

"He said he was having a lot of fun, and we thought it would be a great way to celebrate our anniversary," Wolgemuth said.

Koser's Jewelry was opened in 1952 by Earl Koser, who was a watchmaker at Hamilton Watch Co.

He decided to go out on his own and at first worked mainly with watch repairs but then expanded to jewelry.

The Wolgemuths bought the business in 1988.

jholahan@lnpnews.com