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TSA Agents Find $100,000 Gold Cartier Watch At Newark Airport

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- These guards at Newark Liberty Airport are worth their weight in gold.

A real estate entrepreneur from Japan left his gold and diamond-encrusted Cartier watch valued at more than $100,000 behind as he boarded a flight back home in Terminal C on Tuesday.

A Transportation Security Administration officer put the watch under lock-and-key.

The TSA says the owner contacted a New Jersey-based-colleague to see if the watch was turned in. The agency used photos of the owner wearing it to verify his claim.

The colleague picked it up Thursday.

"The gold diamond watch was picked up at the TSA Newark Lost & Found Office today at about noon. The man who picked it up said he was planning to fly to Japan tonight to personally deliver the watch to its owner," TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said in a statement. "He was extremely grateful that a TSA officer turned it in at the checkpoint and told the TSA officials at the Lost & Found Office that the watch had been custom made and was a one-of-a-kind."

"We know that even though this is an item that has a very high monetary value, we also know that at the same time that something that has a low monetary value, such as an old beat up stuffed animal that belongs to a small child, is just as important to reunite with that child as something like this watch," Farbstein told 1010 WINS.

Travelers who believe they may have lost an item at a TSA checkpoint can contact TSA to try to find their item. Lost and Found information is posted on TSA's web site here: http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/airport-lost-found-contacts.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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