What do I do if I found an Apple Watch on the beach?

I went to Apple. They didn't know what to do with it. I bought a charger to see if I could read any lost messages on it like I do with phones but it will not show me. Apple told me that it can't be opened other than by the one who has it linked. If they don't get it or they have already gotten a new one then this watch is just trash.

There should be a reward given or at least offered by Apple to get it back to the owner but what if the original owner sold it or gave it to someone else? Then Apple has lots of old watches and can't do anything with them. New electronic trash ...

They all have serial numbers and should be owner traceable from that I would think. How can I check the database? Probably can't but there should be a 'matching' app to do it. The owner could get their watch back and pay a reward to the finder.

Most credit card purchase insurance will not cover loss. You have to report an item as stolen. Now someone finds a watch ... how does it get returned if you already got a replacement?

Update:

I did as was suggested. I gave the watch to the police and they looked at me and said: 'We can't do much. Apple should have a way to let the owner know the watch has been found."

Exactly. My local police department does not want to be a lost and found. They would rather have the finder have a way to contact the loser. They think that Apple just wants to sell more watches because they don't have time or ability to find an owner. Their database of found items is much more random that Apple's could be.

I suggest this:

Apple maintains a database of lost and found items. The loser can offer a reward to someone like me who looks for lost items on the beach and makes an effort to return them. Many times I don't get a reward but I send the cell phones to the owner at my expense. One owner gave me $60 so that lets me send lots of them back for free.

A finder can check the model and serial number of the found item against the database and get a match. This will allow the return or the potential resetting of the watch if the loser has already replaced the item. If the loser does not release the code then the technology is dead. (What a waste.)