Spurned man offers diamond ring in treasure hunt

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A New Zealand man, spurned by the woman of his dreams, has come up with a novel way of disposing of the diamond engagement ring he bought her -- a treasure hunt.

Anyone keen to pick up the ring, valued at NZ$5,000 ($3,268), will need to be in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, on Saturday to join the hunt, the Dominion Post newspaper reported.

"I met this girl I thought was pretty cool, bought a ring, turns out she wasn't as keen," Anthony Gardiner, a 29-year-old call-center worker, told the Dominion Post.

Clues to the ring's whereabouts will start being posted on social networking site Twitter (http:/twitter.com/donoogle_com) at 8 a.m. local time on Saturday (2000 GMT on Friday).

Gardiner says he will keep posting clues, and if the ring is not found by the end of the day, "my clues will suddenly change into directions."

Having bought the ring in Hong Kong, he couldn't return it, and didn't want to sell it, so he hit upon the treasure hunt.

Hanging on to it in the hopes of finding a willing recipient is also not an option. "Obviously, it's been a pretty unlucky ring for me," Gardiner said, adding he hoped it would be found by somebody who has "found a cool chick and who wants to give them something they normally wouldn't be able to afford."

(Reporting by Adrian Bathgate; Editing by Mark Bendeich)