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Wyckoff, N.J.--This year marks the third in a row that residents of this New Jersey town were found trolling the streets in search of free jewelry, courtesy of Devon Fine Jewelers. The only difference is that this year, they had clues to guide them, provided they had access to the Internet.

Devon Fine Jewelry owner Nancy Schuring started the “Finders Keepers” campaign in 2009, placing thousands of dollars in fine jewelry, secured in Devon bags, around Wyckoff. True to the title of the campaign, whoever found the jewelry was free to keep it. Schuring said she started Finders Keepers as a way of thanking her customers and the community.

This year, the store added a twist by providing clues to where the Devon “elves”--friends of Schuring who volunteered to hide the jewelry and then interviewed the finder--stashed the pieces. As the jewels were dispatched, clues to their hiding spots went out on the Devon Fine Jewelry website, its Facebook account, Twitter and via email.

Rather than going it alone this year, Schuring opted to bring in a public relations and advertising firm staffed by professionals in their 20s and 30s to help her write the clues and distribute them.

“They’re totally connected to social media. I’m over 60, so it’s not exactly my world. You have to find people that can do that for you,” she said. “That was really key, the selection of the young firm.”

The pieces hidden ranged in price from a few hundred dollars to a $3,000 pair of platinum and diamond earrings. Schuring notes that the value of the pieces is one of the keys to Finders Keepers.

Retailers who want to do this type of campaign need to be reasonably generous with the jewelry they hide. “The key is to grab the attention with the value. If you do a little bit it doesn’t work,” she said.

After the bags were found, the elf, who was hiding nearby, interviewed them and either took their picture or video taped the interview. The stories of the finds were posted on Devon’s website.

“That is what people love,” Schuring said. “This is what the public loves to read about, who the finder was, how they found it, where it was. That’s the human interest part.”

The last piece of jewelry for this year’s Finders Keepers went out on Friday, Nov. 18. At the end, she said of all forms of clue communication used for the contest, Facebook turned out to be the strongest method.

Before the contest, Devon Fine Jewelry had about 100 Facebook “fans.” Now, the store has more than 400 fans. “It’s unbelievable,” she said. “We’ve grown our Facebook list exponentially.”

Exactly how many of these new fans will translate into shoppers is unknown at this point, though Schuring said she has a positive feeling she’s gained new customers by extending the reach of Finders Keepers.

“We are going to see. This is a new approach for us too. This is a really big foray into it (social media),” she said. “My feeling is that the name on everybody’s lips ... it has to help business.”