OK, I'll fess up....
Many years ago I was given the opportunity to purchase a Clearaudio Master Reference that was being taken in on trade. In order to do so I needed to sell my old table (Clearaudio Master Solution). Took some photos, but the table was dusty and didn't look good. I proceeded to dust the table off with a microfiber cloth and was extremely careful. Fortunately, the design of the table was such that there was a lot of room around the tonearm and cartridge. Satisfied that I had gotten all of the nooks and crannies I dropped the towel (so that it could be removed from a different angle) and removed my hand from under the arm.... and BAM!
Not sure how I did it and honestly cannot remember the seconds surrounding the event, but I hit the cartridge hard enough with my hand that the stylus actually cut my knuckle.
Koetsu Jade ...... broken.
The system was in our living room and my wife was in there reading when this happened. Apparently I screamed some obscenities and turned around slowly. She later said that she'd never seen such a combination of anger, embarrassment, and fear in my expression before (or since).
The sad thing was that I was paying close attention while dusting, but had a very brief lapse at the very end. Oh well, expensive lesson learned. Don't dust the turntable!!
It was interesting to see the outpouring of support from my dealer, his customers in the store at the time, and the Koetsu distributor. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Don't beat yourself up. We've all done it..." and then everyone proceeded to tell their story of breaking a cartridge.