Allie Gruenwald of Waukesha, Wisconsin, was mowing a patch of waist-high weeds behind their country home when a low-hanging tree branch caught her diamond earring stud, flinging it into the thick tangle. The earrings were a gift from her husband, Chris. Now one of them was gone.
I received a phone call from Chris on July 5th asking if I might search for the lost earring. The prospects of detecting such a tiny piece of jewelry in such circumstances is like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack! From my 40 plus years’ experience as a metal detecting specialist, I knew it would be a challenge even with some of the most sophisticated metal detecting technology at my disposal.
Upon arrival at the Gruenwald’s home, I experimented with the matching earring to get a reading on my equipment. Even in clean ground without any electro-magnetic interference, the response was barely audible. I calibrated my machine and set to work. It was almost completely dark when I picked up a very faint signal in my headphones. Upon investigating, the small gold retainer appeared about an inch and a half down in the mud; the earring could not be far away. I marked off the area and left instructions to cut the vegetation off level to the ground using scissors or pruning shears. I would return and scan the area again with the coil right on the ground. Having located the retainer, I was confident the diamond stud was close by. 
Sure enough, I received a text message from Chris the next day with the happy news that the earing had come to light as expected!
Allie, may the story of your earrings continue for many years to come!
Well done Paul, ear studs are difficult to find.
Paul what equipment did you use. I have had a similar experience and only got 1 out of 3 finds? Good job.
I used an XP Deus with a High Frequency eliptical Coil. It is super sensitive to small gold!
Great work. I’m 0 for 3 on stud earrings.