About the Office

Things leave. Some of them come back.

The Office of Reappearance is a private registry of personal effects. It issues a number to an object, prints the number on a small aluminium tag, and keeps a record of whom the number belongs to. The record is private. The number is public. That is the whole design.

Most lost things are found by somebody. Most of those somebodies would return them if they could do so without effort, cost or awkwardness. The Office removes the three. The finder types a number. The holder receives a message. Nobody has to hand out a phone number, an address or a surname.

What the Office does

• Issues each number exactly once, in the order the files were opened.
• Keeps the holder private on every artefact: the tag, the certificate, the finder's page, the case card.
• Relays messages between finder and holder, in either direction, for as long as both wish to speak.
• Records the moment an object is reported, the moment it reappears, and the moment the case is closed.

What the Office does not do

• It does not locate anything. The tag has no electronics.
• It does not promise a return. It improves the odds and keeps the manners.
• It does not sell, share or display the holder's details. It has no directory and no search.
• It is not a public authority. Its certificates confer no customs, airline or security status.

Who runs it

A small company in Romania. The legal identity is on the imprint. The Office answers mail at office@officeofreappearance.online, in the order received.

The first number of every year is reserved for the Office itself, so that the registry is never entirely empty.