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Lost Diamond Ring in Durham, Ontario…Found! The Woodpile Ring

  • from Menomonee Falls (Wisconsin, United States)

A lady in Durham, Ontario, Canada lost her ring while retrieving firewood from a woodpile beside her home. The ring was purchased for her by her husband while overseas and so it had special sentimental value. She knew it was lost somewhere between the woodpile and her backdoor but exactly where it came off her finger was not clear. She frantically retraced her steps looking for the precious keepsake, but to no avail. The ground was covered in a mixture of maple leaves and bark chips and so it seemed hopeless that she would ever see her ring again.

My wife and I happened to stop by for a visit and soon learned about the loss. I had my Whites XLT Spectrum metal detector in the car (it usually travels with us) and so I asked the distraught woman some questions and then began a grid search retracing her steps between the house and the woodpile. I was barely 30 minutes into my search when the detector gave out what we metal detecting specialists call, “a loud and proud” signal. There, hidden from view beneath a golden maple leaf, the ring appeared where it had fallen.

It was a great feeling to be able to present the ring to its owner again. She was ecstatic! It was especially meaningful to me to find that ring and return it since it belonged to none other than my sister, Linda! In fact she and her husband visited us just the other day. And she was still wearing her “woodpile” ring—tangible evidence of yet another “Happy Return!”

Property and Estate Searches Yakima Washington

  • from Yakima (Washington, United States)
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To date most of my hunts have included searches for rings and other lost personal items. But the use of a metal detector goes beyond just rings. I initially purchased my Whites Classic ID metal detector 11 years ago to search my property for underground lines and property markers. Since then I have loaned out that detector to search for wiring in new construction, for a friend to look for a pair of glasses lost on a snowy hike and yes for several property marker searches.

Recently I was asked if my detector could locate the lid from a chewing tobacco can. I responded that it would be able to see the metal part of the can and followed up his question with one of my own. Why?

The response got me ready to hunt. He told me a story about his grandparents who hid money in their yard in these containers and who knows what else. In one can there was a reported three thousand dollars. They lived in an area rich with history and many detectors had been by asking for permission to hunt their property. They had always said yes, but restricted them from searching around the house.

This led the person asking me the question to think there may be much more in the ground and he wanted me to do a property search. Currently the ground is nicely frozen, so this will have to wait until spring, and I will report back on what I find.

Another friend spoke with me about searching his late fathers property as they had already found $37,000 in cash in a drawer when they went through his estate. The father had owned a coin op car wash pre–1965 and had told the kids, when I die you can bet I will have several large drums of silver coins in the yard.

So you see besides searching for rings or keys, there are other good uses for a metal detector.

If you have a property that you think holds buried treasure and would like a hunt done, then let me know. If you are in the Washington State area I can help you out and depending on the treasure, I could be willing to travel. I can also set you up with a Ring Finder in your area who I am sure would be more than happy to help you out.

Now if spring could only hurry up so I can get to that estate search and see what treasure is waiting to be found.

Do you have a search? I am waiting for your call.

Steve

Lost wedding ring minnesota snow minneapolis St. paul

  • from Twin Cities Metro (Minnesota, United States)

Just wanted to let everyone out there know that the Ring Finders are fully functional during the winter. I know a lot of people lose there valuables shoveling snow, having snow ball fights, cleaning the snow off your car etc. We are always happy to help. We have a great success rate and truely enjoy helping people. Take care and Good Luck!!!! Darrin E-Mail – dwgray@mchsi.com

Lost platinum wedding band in the snow… B.C.I.T, Burnaby

  • from Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)

Wedding band lost in the snow

It snowed pretty hard today and I was running around with my wife getting some stuff read for work next week,  I got a call from a young man that had lost his  platinum wedding band in the snow at B.C.I.T (British Columbia Institute of Technology)

He told me that he had a good area were he believed his ring came off,  also that 5  people had  stopped to help him search for his lost ring for close to one hour, with no luck.

We made plans to meet and search for the ring and we met an hour later.  I started the grid search and 10 minutes into the search I asked him if he could get a ring out of my truck so we could do a test with it.

Just as he was going to the truck I received a good signal and kicked the snow to see his wedding band looking back up at me!

Thick Platinum Ring Lost in Snow

Needles to say he was very happy to see his ring,  it only took 10 minutes  to find it and he was in a bit of a rush to pick up his daughter from school, so it worked out well.

He was a very nice young man and I was very happy to help him find his wedding band of 6 years…

I love my Job!

Lost something in the snow?

Call me ASAP

Video of the search below…

Lost Gold Wedding Band Found Yakima Washington

  • from Yakima (Washington, United States)
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Another great smile

When you are a Ring Finder, you never know when your next search will be. I had a feeling that I might get a search this week because here in Yakima we had a very cold and snowy spell.This can often mean valuables such as keys and rings can get lost.

When the call came asking if I was willing to help find a lost gold wedding band I was not surprised. After speaking with the wife of the man who lost his ring I was ready to start the hunt.

The ring had fallen off while the husband was cleaning the snow off the car, and then brushed his arms and hands off. He told me that he heard a metal « clank » but did not put it together that it was his ring that made the noise. When he arrived at home, he realized that his ring was gone and was sure that it was his ring that must have come off back in the parking lot. Well he returned to the site, but there was two inches of fresh snow in the lot and he could not find the ring. I was called the next day after they found my listing on The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service on the internet.

I agreed to meet them after work to look for the ring. Now I said earlier that it was cold and snowy, and it was. Although the snow had mostly stopped it was still only around 18 F outside and by the time the search was called off for the night it was well on the way to -5 F.

Unfortunately when we arrived at the search location the parking lot had already been plowed. There was only a 1/4 of packed snow on the parking lot, with two large piles of snow off in the corners. The man was able to put me exactly where the ring came off so I searched that area first. I then expanded the search grid to include the most likely route the scraper would have taken to move the snow into the piles. Still no ring. So after looking at the two piles of snow we decided to search the most likely one, which of course was the larger of the two.

I began to shovel layers of snow off the pile and search the remaining snow. After about two hours I had searched about half of the pile, and called it quits for the night.

The next day was even colder, but the sun was out and I was again eager to continue the hunt. My oldest son was home from school, so I asked if he would like to help me search for the ring, and fortunately he did. So off we went. It took about another hour of digging each layer of snow, and then searching it to come up with the ring. It was sitting just hidden in a clump of snow. About the time I swung the metal detector over the ring, I heard the beep and there was the ring. I could not believe we found it. I thought for sure that I would have to just wait for the pile to melt before the ring would be found.

Now I wanted to surprise the husband with the ring and capture that on video, so I called his wife and told her that I had found the ring but wanted to surprise him. So I asked her if she could get him down to the search area to give me some more details about losing the ring, and she agreed.

When they arrived I asked him if he could tell me about what significance the ring was to him and to go over how he lost it again. Then I asked him to describe the ring and after he was done I pulled out the ring and asked if it looked like this one! He was very surprised and happy to get the ring back.

I was pretty happy to have found it for him with the help of my son. It was a great moment I will not soon forget.

They were very kind in giving me a nice reward, which was much appreciated. I do accept rewards as it helps me cover costs and keep my equipment up to date, but for me the true reward is the great smile and joy that I get to witness and be a part of.

Thanks guys for giving me a call and letting me be a part of your wedding ring story.

Lost… 3 Platinum Rings at Chesterman Beach Vancouver Island…Found

  • from Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)

I received a call from the Concierge at the Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino, Vancouver Island.  He asked if I could help search for 3 platinum rings that were tossed into the ocean at Chesterman Beach, beside their inn.

He tells me that 3 days past from the time the young lady from London England tossed her rings into the ocean.  He helped the couple by getting them a metal detector so they could search the next morning for the rings.

The coupled searched most of the day but had no luck in finding the rings.  They were leaving the next day to New York, they would leave Tofino broken hearted!

After the couple left to New York,  the Concierge (Damien) began to search the internet to see if he could locate someone to help find those 3 lost rings.

This is where I come into play,  he finds TheRingFinders.com online, he tells me the story of the lady and her lost rings. I know I have to act fast as the waves on that beach can get very big in the winter time and that could pound the rings deep into the sand, beyond the reach of a detector.

My wife who hasn’t picked up a detector since we were hunting in the UK (Spoiled) many years ago, wanted to come and help. This was great because she could help grid search and we could knock it out fast,  we needed to because of the tides.

Close to 4 hours and only a couple of  trash targets I got a good signal.  I dug down with my sand scoop and placed the lump of sand on the beach and with my headlight I could see the sparkle of diamonds!

I found the platinum diamond engagement ring! I yelled out to Beverley and she came running, we were so happy and we called Trish in New York to tell them the good news.

We regained our composure and Beverley started to do a corkscrew grid search where I found the ring and within minutes she got a signal 5 yards away and scooped up the platinum wedding band…

This was the tough one because it was so small and thin and it was already 4-5 inches down,  good find by Beverley!

Well we were excited and hopeful that we would find the 3rd ring and within 5 minutes and about 15 yards away I found the Aquamarine platinum ring…

We were so happy to find all 3 rings and excited to email the pictures of our discovery to Trish & James.  We got a call early the next morning and Trish & James were happy, happy!

Things happen in our lives that make us do funny things that we regret… That being said the rings have more memories now and the last memory was how good it felt to get them back!

We started back to Vancouver and as luck would have it we got stuck in traffic for hours due to snow storms and white outs.  We did make it to the ferry and dropped the rings off to Trish’s friends in West Vancouver who will be going to London in a weeks time…

Beverley and I had a great time on this search and the Hero in all of this , in our opinion,  is the Concierge at the Wickaninnish Inn (Damien) Because if he hadn’t found The Ring Finders Directory, the rings would be lost forever!

I love my job! I Love my Wife!

Lost something?

Call me ASAP!

Video of the search below…

-Video- Chesterman Beach…3 Lost Platinum Rings in Tofino, Vancouver Island…Found!

  • from Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)

This video is a search for 3 lost rings at Chesterman Beach,  Tofino,  Vancouver Island

Lost Fairhaven Gold Pendant Found in Bellingham

  • from Bellingham (Washington, United States)
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Got a call this week from a women named Lori who lost a gold pendant. It was a beautiful custom ring and pendant matching set made by a local jeweler in Fairhaven, see article below. About a week ago she realized she had a loose chain hanging on her neck. The pendant was nowhere to be found. She was sure she lost it around her house but was all over the place that day on about a 1/2 acre of land. They have a beautiful garden and pathways, lots of grass etc.

We retraced her steps that morning and discussed all the possibilities. The grass had been freshly mowed the day before her loss and she had already retraced her steps searching the grass by eye. It was a fresh drop, about a week, so it couldn’t be deep although some of the garden beds were soft mounded dirt.

She had also borrowed a radio shack detector from a friend only to add frustration to the mix.

The first thing I did was take a reading off the ring since it was the same kind of gold and a similar design. I decided to start in a small wood chip area and then head into the garden mounds.

Immediately I got a dime signal. She has two preschool aged boys who were very interested in all this so I popped a quick plug and they retrieved the dime. Oh were they excited!

But I had to focus on the job at hand so I headed for the garden beds and in about 20 minutes I had made the find. It was about 2 inches down in one of the soft dirt mounds. Boy did she do the happy dance. She was very excited!

Coenraad Zielstra, see article below, the goldsmith who had made the pieces recently died of cancer and Lori was one of the nurses who had cared for him during his last days. The pendant and ring were hand made about 6 years previously so there was a lot of sentimental value to this lost pendant.

I turned off and set down my equipment and we were all enjoying the glory when her oldest son approached in tears and grabbed her leg.

He was so excited about finding treasures then it was all over, the hunt was complete and he was not a happy camper. So I grabbed my MXT and off we went around the yard to find a few more goodies. Spent another 20 minutes fulfilling this little boys treasure hunting dreams.

I sure love this hobby!
William Rink

Jeweler Metalsmith Artisan Will Be Missed

  • from Bellingham (Washington, United States)
Contact:

Coenraad Zielstra graduated from Vakschool for Goud en Zilversmeden with his gold and silversmithing diplomas in 1963. But Coenraad was much more than a metalsmith, he was an exceptional artist with his own gallery of rings pendants and jewelry items. His creativity and originality were exemplified by his use of antique metalsmithing tools he brought with him when he immigrated from Holland.

Entering his studio in Fairhaven Washington, one stepped into another time with his collection of 18th and 19th century mahogany tables, display cases and cabinets.

A row of rolling mills marked the beginning of his studio workspace.

Anvils, crucibles, molds, hammers, files, a large rolling mill are all antiques that function as well today as they did centuries ago.

His historic collection of metalsmithing tools would be remarkable for a museum, but they weren’t for show, they were used to create beautiful, wearable sculptures for the 45 years Coenraad has worked with them.

Dutch Master Goldsmith Coenraad Zielstra (1943 – 2010)

Gold wedding ring found in Carlsbad

  • from La Jolla (California, United States)

My First gig as a member of The Ring Finders started with a call from a man named Gama, who lost his wedding ring in some straw.

He was setting up a stage inside a large tent where a school play was to take place when his ring came off while spreading the straw around. Though he and his co-workers looked for it, it was the proverbial needle (ring) in a haystack.

I arrived at the school before Gama but was able to talk to one of his co-workers who knew the general area in which the ring was lost. After a few minutes and only one junk target I received a solid « gold ring » sound and found it just under the surface.

I headed back to my truck and waited for Gama to arrive, after a few minutes the co-worker saw me sitting in my truck and came over to see why. I showed him that I found the ring and he couldn’t believe I found it so quickly.

Phone calls were made which kinda ruined the surprised but a happy Gama was the result none the less.

Here’s the wayward circle…

No worse for wear