Obligation of Returning an Earring at a Bus Stop

I found an earring without any identifying marks at a bus stop in Tel Aviv. Do I need to announce it?

It is yours.

An earring has no special identifying marks, and in a case where there are no marks, it is essentially his, as the owners have despaired. However, there is concern that it was found before the owners knew it was lost. In the Talmud, Tractate Bava Metzia, page 21, there is a debate between Abaye and Rava whether despair without knowledge is considered despair or not. The Gemara there ruled that it is not considered despair, and so ruled the Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat, Laws of Lost and Found, Chapter 262: "The finder is not obligated to announce, except for an item that has a mark on its body or that can be marked by its place, ties, number, size, or weight. But if it has no marks, even in its place, such as it is clear it was not placed there intentionally but fell there, if it is something that the owner would immediately notice when it fell from him, or due to its weight or importance and he would always check it and notice when it falls, it belongs to the finder, as he immediately despaired when he knew it fell, since it has no mark and came to him lawfully, as the owners despaired. If not, it must be returned even if he despaired later, as it came to him before despair."

And here, when a woman's earring is found, even if it is a valuable and important item, we know that a person is accustomed to check his pocket at all times, but a woman cannot despair, as what a woman acquires belongs to her husband, and there is concern that before she told him it was lost, it was already found and came to him unlawfully. However, here it is permitted, as there are many non-Jews there and many unmarried women, and it may be, unfortunately, that it belongs to them, and also it is possible that she already told him and he despaired, therefore it is his.