Patent ID: 8334772

Claim:
A personal artifact tethering device, comprising: a casing having an annular configuration with an open wrist-receiving area for allowing said casing to be worn as a bracelet on a person's wrist, said casing having an enclosed interior area; a reel inside said enclosed interior area of said casing, said reel being movable between retracted and extended configurations; a spring in communication with said reel and said casing to bias said reel to said retracted configuration; a hook; a flexible tether having a first end coupled to said reel and a second end coupled to said hook, said tether passing through said enclosed interior area of said casing such that at least a portion of said hook is always outside said enclosed interior area of said casing, relatively more of said flexible tether being outside said enclosed interior area of said casing when said reel is at said extended configuration, relatively less of said flexible tether being outside said enclosed interior area of said casing when said reel is at said retracted configuration; a circuit board positioned inside said enclosed interior area of said casing having wiring extending from said circuit board through said tether to create a closed loop; a tracking device positioned in said enclosed interior area of said casing and electrically connected to said circuit board, said tracking device including a global positioning system (“GPS”) and a transmitter configured to send physical location data upon detection of a severing of said tether; means for detecting said severing of said tether; a vibrating element operatively coupled to said casing; and means for actuating said vibrating element upon detection of said severing of said tether.