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Lost Wedding Ring Found in Surf Two Days Later

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Two days ago, Scott had been fishing from a remote beach in Doubtless bay. While packing up, he noticed he had lost his white gold wedding ring during the day.

Thinking he had lost the ring while gutting and cleaning the catch in the water, he spent some time looking for it. With light failing and the propensity for rings to sink quickly in mobile sands, he was unable to locate his lost ring.

Fortunately, he had the presence of mind to tie a small orange fishing float to some grass at the edge of the dunes…and contacting an experienced Ringfinder as soon as possible meant that the chances of recovering it were as good as they get.
So, a little after 4am this morning, I pulled out of the driveway and started the 2hr drive north to meet Scott at 6.

Given the remote location, it was likely we would only get one shot at this and I wanted to maximise the lower half of the tide in case it became a protracted search.
Big thanks do have to go to Scott for making the effort to meet me on site at ‘daft o clock’, it is so invaluable having the ring owner present at searches to discuss the circumstances of loss.

Our little convoy bounced up the rough road up onto “Puwheke” – not an insignificant hill on the Karikari peninsula, and a prominant landmark visible from many kilometres in all directions.
Once parked up, Scott pointed far into the distance…distance being the key word! The route we would have to take around the hill and down to the beach looked like one of those that somehow always feels like it’s uphill in both directions with gorse, steep slopes and wet, slippery rank grass growth.

The beach itself was very pleasant though, the sort of sand you see on deserted tropical islands – nice flat hardpacked white quartz sand (The quartz crystals actually ‘squeak’ with the friction if you scuff your foot in the dry sand).

One and a half kilometres from the cars, we arrived at where he had lost his ring. A small dayglo fishing float glowing orange in the grass.
While I got setup, Scott marked out some boundaries and I made a start in the dry fluffy sand. At least, in the middle of nowhere there was no trash or background chatter to mask any signals. A rare luxury with recoveries.

The first search line went straight down the beach and out into the shallows. Unsure how long I’d be searching, I was trying to stay dry at this stage of the exercise, the ocean waters not yet warmed from summer.
I turned and started the return line back to the beach. Three paces – and I got a clean tone, the sound was either that of a deep lead fishing weight, or a relatively shallow gold ring. I knew which it would be! Time to dig.

The white sand easily flowed out of the scoop, leaving Scotts ring nestled in the corner.

The ring safely back on Scott’s finger, we started the long walk back to the cars.

Uphill all the way…

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Ring lost swimming at Taupo Bay. Found!

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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I occasionally get calls from people that I have previously recovered lost rings for, usually along the lines of, « I’ve done it again… », or, « A friend/neighbour has lost their… »
Krista phoned me to say that a guest had been swimming at Taupo Bay and had lost his Gucci ring in almost exactly the same spot that I had recovered her own treasured heirloom ring at the start of this year.

It was late afternoon and the light would soon be fading, however the tide was falling so I had to try and catch the first low tide that night.
I arrived at Taupo Bay and was relieved to see that this popular surf beach had virtually no break today – I knew the area of loss would be exposed at low tide, however that wouldn’t be until about 10pm so I waded out and made a start.
The water hadn’t warmed to summer temperatures yet, but was definitely warm enough that the wetsuit wasn’t needed. A very strong cross current was feeding a rip nearby and sand was being visibly moved along the beach and at times sucked from under my feet. One of the reasons that water recoveries have to be carried out as soon as possible.

As I worked the search patterns Hayden, the `lossee`, and Krista settled in to watch the worlds most boring spectator sport.
The high probability area yielded nothing and as both tide and night fell, I started to expand the search out to 20m…30m… back across the area they had been swimming.
Several hours and multiple overlapping grid patterns later, I was convinced it wasn’t where it was supposed to be (they almost never are).
The others had long since left me to it so I texted to advise a no-find… So far.

On the drive home, I replayed the search over and over in my mind. Re-analysing the circumstances of loss against the fact that the ring was not located despite a near 100% probability of detection over the entire swimming area.
Hayden said he had been sweeping his hand through the water, and he had felt it come off.
The ring had to have been airborne, unseen by Hayden – hidden among the water spray/droplets.
Stated to be ‘silver’, I have found that this can mean it just looks silver and can be anything from platinum, white gold, or titanium. All with very different densities and responses. As an example, if you had two rings in your hand, white gold and titanium, and threw them, the gold would travel much, much further than the titanium due to the greater mass.

How far would a ring go? The original search area had discounted the lighter titanium.

Back on the road early next morning for the hour drive to Taupo Bay again in order to catch the next tide. When I don’t find a ring it becomes a personal challenge. It’s partially this tenacity which enables me to find rings which others have tried for and given up, or missed, due to inexperience or unsuitable detectors.

I had the luxury of daylight and a large tide window this time.

Some time was spent painstakingly eliminating several dozen unlikely but must-be-confirmed signals in amongst a buried jumble of fragments of reinforced concrete and other ‘hot’ rocks with high metal content under the sand. All metal targets were proven to be trash.
Then I moved onto a wider area search based on a couple of underarm throws of my test rings – in the opposite direction to where they had been swimming.
30 minutes later I got a very clear silver tone – The scoop went in, and from 30cm under the sand on the edge of yesterdays rip current emerged Hayden’s lost sterling silver ring.

I love sending texts that simply say, « FOUND! » – They’re usually followed immediately after by my phone ringing with an excited and unbelieving voice at the other end 🙂

 

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Find a Lost Ring in the Ocean

  • from Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)
Contact:

Vancouver Ring Finder Chris Turner- Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost your ring?… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP  Anytime   778-838-3463 

I received a text message the other night in regards to a lost ring at Spanish Banks Beach, in the ocean. The message asked if there would still be a chance to find it the next day as we were being hit with some high winds. I text back and said absolutely worth a shot, so we set up a time to meet the next morning, when I met this young man I could tell how much this really meant to him and his wife. He went on to tell me that he was only married for a little over a year and the ring meant the world to him and I could tell how much he loved his wife and didn’t want to upset her with the news that evening. He waited to tell her the next morning and he said she was very upset and he was in the doghouse for a little while, but after telling her he had asked me to come out and help that put her mind to rest a little bit.

He told me it was dark when he entered the water so I got him to mark off an area for me to search, I also knew because it was dark he may be off the mark by who knows 10, 20, 30 yards?. He had to get to work so I got down to business and started searching the area where the high title line met the dry line. He told me he was only 10 feet below the high tide line, of course I would search much further down for the what if factor.  I was pretty confident his ring was going to bed down pretty quickly in the sand due to the weight of his ring.

After close to 6 1/2 hours (17,961 steps) unfortunately I did not find his ring, I reached out to let him know, I could tell he was very disappointed, I told him I was going back the next day to extend the search area. That night I laid in bed thinking what I could have done differently, was there something I didn’t do or somewhere I didn’t look? I knew because it was dark he could be off the mark,  I did overextend my grid search but it wasn’t until the next morning when I saw where the high tide line was on the beach that changed everything.

When I got there the first day and looked for the high tide line and knowing it was a 14.74 high tide I was confident I was looking at the right line and started my search from there down. The next day I saw the high tide line I was working the day before and I saw my grid lines more than 20 feet down…Game changer! That told me the high tide ling wasn’t that high up, there was a seaweed line across the beach where the high tide was and I started my search from there and down and about 40 yards east out of my grid I found his ring!

Makes me so happy when I can find and continue these beautiful stories for people! The ring was close to a foot down and in a few days it may have been too deep to detect.

 

 

   

 

 

Vancouver Ring Finder Chris Turner- Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost your ring?… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP  Anytime   778-838-3463 I have the best job in the world, I love helping people more than anything I’ve ever done in my lifetime. I get to make people smile, I get to hear their stories of what their ring/lost items mean to them and how happy it makes them feel when I find it.

 

 

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Lost Gold Ring Found Longport, NJ by Ring Finders South Jersey

  • from North Wildwood (New Jersey, United States)
Contact:

Lost a ring?

Don’t wait to call!

215-850-0188

Melissa gave me a call and told me that her gold ring dropped in the sand in Longport, New Jersey.  She explained that it had fallen when she went to get ice cream.  I was a few minutes away in Ocean City, NJ and arrived shortly after. I started the search with my metal detector it was found within minutes. Melissa was happy to have the ring back on her finger.

Check out the website for more stories and information:

Ring Finders South Jersey 

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Lost Wedding Ring Found at Paihia

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
Contact:

Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626

Having the presence of mind to accurately fix your location, and rapidly contact a dedicated ring finder can make the world of difference when you have lost a ring or other piece of sentimental jewellery.

Josh was enjoying his holiday, lounging in the warm summer shallows at a Paihia beach, when he decided to remove his white gold and diamond wedding ring from his finger to thread it onto his necklace for security.
Fate intervened and the ring fell into the cloudy water.

He spent some time looking for it with a mask, although the zero visibility made it impossible to see.
That was when his wife contacted me.

Josh had made a mental note of a couple of items on shore that lined up, as well as an accurate depth and distance from the beach. It was high tide, but rather than wait for the next low tide the following day, the tight start point encouraged me to make the attempt before the evening light faded.

I waded out, counting my paces and gauging the depth as described by Josh, until I was in the general area. Josh directed me a little further to one side where he felt the ring would be and I started to grid.

Just after I turned to start the second run, I got a clean tone in the headphones – the audio too ‘bright and smooth’ to be litter.

The scoop went in, I checked the hole was clear and shook the sediments out of the scoop. The sand flowed away revealing the lost ring.

One of my fastest recoveries yet – thanks must go to Josh for providing an excellent start point and contacting a Ring Finder ASAP.

 

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Heirloom Signet Ring lost at Taupo Bay – Huge potential area, Found by Experienced Ring Finder

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
Contact:
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
Got a message from Krista
 » Lost my ring at Taupo Bay today ».
After delving deeper, it transpired she might have lost her treasured heirloom rose gold ring at one of several locations: Washing the car, washing the dog, Potting/manuring some plants, swimming with the dog at one end of Taupo Bay, or when a boogie board was taken from her at the other end… HUGE potential area and with no start point. This is where experience takes precedence over ‘brute force’ (eg trying to cover every square centimeter). I met Krista  at her home, quickly eliminating the car/dog washing areas and the freshly manured garden plants as I waited for her to get ready to head down to the beach, although I already had a hunch where the lost ring would be found… I then followed her to the beach.
There were two locations of interest here, where she went into the water with her dog, and where a boogie board was taken off her. I chose to clear the latter first as it was at highest risk of being picked up by a casual holidaying metal detectorist as it was in the dry sand zone above the high tide mark and this time of year, coils are prevalent…
I cleared the highest probability area of the dry sand and with the tide about to turn shifted my focus to where she had taken the dog into the sea. I could return to complete the dry sand with a high intensity search if necessary.
At the swim spot at the other end of the bay, I asked Krista to retrace her movements and interactions from when she parked the truck. I mentally marked out the highest probability area on the sands as she retold her activities that afternoon and I settled in for a long search into the evening… I typically allow a minimum of four hours which, from experience, is sufficient to recover 90% of items. If the item is at a high risk of being lost to other detectorists, casual passers-by or a dynamic environment, eg surf, I often extend the hours to try and secure the lost item in the initial search phase.
After several circuits of the search pattern, I hit a nice solid tone at the waters edge – 3 inches under the surface lay her heirloom signet ring. It was outside the area she thought it would be [Trust No-one, Assume Nothing, Check everything] but the important thing was – It had been found.
I held it up and started to walk back towards her, a big grin on my face, a grin matched only by hers once she realised it was actually her lost ring and not someones elses.
All done, I packed up and headed home to get ready for my day job.
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Grandfathers Gold Ring Lost in Sea at Tutukaka, Found!

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
Contact:
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
Erin was enjoying a swim at Kowharewa Bay, near Tutukaka when he lost his grandfathers signet ring.
The ring was given to his grandfather on his 21st birthday, and had been passed down to him. One of those things that is truly irreplaceable.
His wife contacted me, and I arranged to meet him at Tutukaka the following day to try and recover this precious part of his family history.
I was on site a little ahead of him, so set about lining up landmarks from a photo his wife had sent me and estimating how far out he would have been given the state of the tide and the 90 minute window they were there.
Kowharewa Bay has a very shallow contour below low water mark, so « waist deep » is potentially a huge area. The timestamp on the photo was invaluable as it told me exactly what the tide level was at the time around loss.
Once that was done, I headed back to the car to get the wetsuit on and make a start.
It was still well before low water, so did a quick calculation of how much extra depth to allow – which ultimately meant the curious onlookers on the beach could only see a pair of headphones and dive mask gliding backwards and forwards through the waves, occasionally sinking out of sight to investigate a potential target.
I finished the first search pattern out to one side of the estimated location and was just turning to head over and start a second run on the other side when the coil drifted over a solid tone off to my side .
Slipping underwater, I fanned the sand away to reveal a well worn signet ring.
Ring recovery is a « Game of Inches ». It’s a slow, methodical, extremely disciplined procedure, when there’s a lot of trash signals it can be extremely mentally fatiguing as well as you listen to and analyse every response.
Get lazy with just one sweep of the coil and you could miss the target and walk right past it.
Had the coil not just grazed the ring in this instance it could have been a long 4-6Hrs in the water into the night until the search pattern opened up far enough to include it.
I waded ashore and phoned to let Erin know I had something for him!
He turned up about 5 minutes later and quickly had the ring back on his finger.
Tutukaka Ngunguru Matapouri lost ring Northland Jewellery Recoveries New Zealand Ringfinders Northland Jewellery Recoveries
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Lost Silver Ring in Tauranga Bay Sand Dune – Found by the Ring Finders!

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
Contact:
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
First recovery for 2022.
Andy was enjoying New Years Eve on the beach at Tauranga Bay near Whangaroa Harbour, and as he kicked back to make himself comfortable in the loose sand of the dunes, he felt his jandals slip off his feet. Over the hours, they got progressively buried in the steep and mobile dry sand dune.
But this isn’t a story of a jandal recovery.
In the pitch black, as he sifted through the sand looking for his now buried jandals, he felt his precious silver ring slip off and vanish into the sand.
He gave me a call today just as I was getting prepped to leave for another lost ring in the sea at Cable Bay an hour further north.
I made an earlier start and detoured out to Tauranga Bay en route.
Searching the area was a matter of trying to maintain tight control of the coil in a controlled slide down the dune, followed by a hard three steps up- slide two back, slog up to the top again. Great exercise in the midday summer sun…
I cleared the initially indicated area, and as Andy wasn’t exactly sure where he had been, I started to open up the search pattern – keeping a half eye on the time as I had to catch low tide up in Doubtless Bay for the other lost ring recovery. If necessary I could return to this one, but time and tide waits for no-one.
Halfway down the dune, about 6 or 7 metres from where Andy thought he had been, I picked up a bright silver tone.
The scoop went in, the dry sand flowed out through the holes like water leaving a lovely bark-textured silver ring behind.
Holding it up to Andy, it was met with a huge grin!
Then into the car, and off to Doubtless Bay for recovery number two… leaving Andy to continue to look for his jandals buried in the sand at the new location where I had found the ring
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Lost Gold Cross and Necklace Found Avalon NJ by Ring Finders South Jersey

  • from North Wildwood (New Jersey, United States)
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Late Friday evening I received a text from Sam asking if I could find a gold chain and cross in the sand that was lost the previous day in Avalon, NJ. She mentioned the cross was very sentimental because it was given to her mother by her father almost 30 years ago and then given to her. Sam took off the necklace because it got tangled in her hair and placed  it on the blanket. After forgetting she had taking it off, the cross and chain went flying across the beach when she shook out her blanket when leaving. I met Sam early Saturday morning to collect some details and started to search. After a thorough grid search of approximately fifty square feet, the necklace and cross were found!

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Two Rings Lost in Angry Surf – Night Search, Found!

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
Contact:

Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626

Ann-Maree was holidaying at Tauranga Bay Camp near Whangaroa and decided to brave the dumping surf and go for a wade. She underestimated the power of the surges up the beach and was forced to put her hands down into the sand to maintain her balance as the water rushed past her.

She gave up the idea due to the ferocity of the water and returned to the dry sand, that’s when she noticed her two gold rings were missing, one a very sentimental engagement diamond ring from two generations ago.

She asked at the camp office if she could hire a metal detector, they didn’t have one and instead they gave her my contact details – along with a really positive summary of my previous success stories there.

Ann-Maree phoned me at work and explained the situation. Knowing this beach changes with each tide, it eats rings so I headed home to get my kit and was soon on site – Staring at a 2.5m dumping surf break on a very steep beach. Haven’t seen it like that for many years !

The sand was really deep and mobile, but there was no way I was going to risk going into the surf until the tide was further out and it had calmed down a little.  I started by gridding the shallows, intending to follow the tide down. Within 10 minutes I had been caught by a sweep and my shorts were soaked…So gave up staying dry after that.

I ran two opposing grids on the 11″ coil, then switched to the 15″ and ran another two, real hard work with the surges grabbing the coil and only netted a token for the camp showers and a few odds and ends of scrap.

The 15″ was taking it’s toll, so with the tide further out, I reverted to the 11″ and wound the settings up so ‘hot’ it would probably pick up the earths core. And started a new set of grids.

After 4Hrs, it was now dark and I was right down on nearly low tide mark now.  I got a deep, clean tone. Battling the water and the almost fluid shelly sand, I heaved scoopfuls out of the hole until I had it, pinpointed it with the coil in the diggings, and rapidly placed my foot on it as another surge came past.  In with the pinpointer and my fingers found the shape of a ring in the dark.

I marked the spot and headed up to Ann-Marees camper to confirm – Yes! It was one of them, but not the treasured heirloom.

But, I now had a pin in the map! I knew that if I didn’t find the second ring this time around, it would be lost to the beach with the heavy surf. The beach contour had already changed significantly in the time I had been there.

I headed back and started a focussed search in the area. Another brass screw, bit of wire, odd scraps of metal… then deep and quiet, there was something. I wound the volume right up in the headphones to try and hear it over the surf. Has to be it.

Several hasty scoops later and I had the second ring.

Ann-Maree had given hem up for lost.

I refused to.

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