Metal detecting service Alabama Tag | The Ring Finders

Diamond earring lost and found – Daphne, AL

Last night, just as I was heading to bed, my phone dinged with a message.

“Sorry for the late text,” it read. “Lost 1.5 carat diamond earring in a flower bed. Call tomorrow… or Monday… or now.”

Well… of course I called now.

David explained that his wife Jennifer had lost her earring while working in the flower bed earlier that day. They believed it was somewhere in the pine straw around her hydrangeas. It was insured, he said… but it was a sentimental gift that meant a great deal to her.

Earrings are my least favorite type of jewelry to recover – they are sooooo tiny. But there was no way I was saying no. We made plans for me to head to the next county over the next day and give it a shot.

Fortunately, they had the matching earring. That gave me a huge advantage. I ran it under my Minelab Equinox 900 to check the VDI and tone.

Park 1? Nothing.

Park 2? Bouncy low tone.

Beach 1 and 2? Nada. 😬

Gold mode? A nice solid signal.  Now we’re talking.

The search area was small but tricky—pine straw, landscaping debris, and plenty of potential junk targets hiding underneath. Jennifer stood nearby, clearly anxious, asking what she could do to help.

My answer?

“Pray.”

(Which, honestly, I do with every swing when I’m working a recovery.)

Almost immediately, I got a promising signal—perfectly matching the test earring. My excitement didn’t last long… after chasing it with my pinpointer for what seemed like forever, I pulled out a teeny, tiny scrap of tinfoil.

Next target? A small nail.

Then more foil.

A screw.

Even a Christmas light connector.

I started weighing my options—carefully remove the pine straw or move to another area she had worked. Just then, I caught another shallow 2 VDI tone right along the edge of the flower bed where it met the monkey grass.

I knelt down, reached in with my pinpointer, and gently pushed the grass aside…

…and there it was.

A flash of sparkle.

That unmistakable wink of a diamond looking right back at me. 🙌

I’m not sure who was more surprised—me or Jennifer—but I can tell you this: there were happy tears from both of us.

That feeling never gets old.

The best reward isn’t the find itself—it’s the look on someone’s face when you place a lost, sentimental piece of jewelry back into their hand.

Lost Gold Engagement Ring and Wedding Band Set…Recovered from Lake in Tuskegee, AL!

I received a call last night (21 March 2020) from Alexandria.  She sounded very distraught as she told me that she lost her engagement ring and wedding band set just hours earlier while wading in knee deep water at a lake.  Alex asked if I’d be willing to drive to Tuskegee, Alabama to look for her ring.  I’ve never been to Tuskegee before.  I did a quick Google Maps search from my location in Huntsville to Tuskegee.  The trip one-way was 228 miles or almost a 3.5 hour drive!  On my Ring Finders profile page, I advertise that I prefer to stay within a 100 mile radius of Huntsville, but can definitely travel further if needed.  My mentality is that if someone needs my help, I’m willing to travel anywhere to help them.  I got back on the phone, told Alex, « absolutely, » and started planning my trip.

I left early the next morning, so that I could get to the lake in Tuskegee by 8am.  I wanted to give myself plenty of time for the search just in case it turned out to be much harder then I thought it would.  Alex was certain that she felt the ring slip off her finger while she was reaching down in the water.  She also remembered the exact spot she was standing at in the lake.  Based on those two factors, I felt very confident that her ring would be found.

I set up my Equinox 800 and headed into the water.  Once I was at the correct spot, I started my grid search.  I picked up a lot of various signals on my detector.  Alex told me that this was a yellow gold engagement ring that sits inside of a yellow gold wedding band.  The signals I was getting weren’t coming up in the gold range.  I decided to check a few iffy signals, but soon realized the object was too big or too deep to be her ring and moved on.  Then, a few feet to my left, I picked up a solid yellow gold tone on my Nox.  One quick scoop and there lying in the bottom of my Xtreme sand scoop was Alexandria’s beautiful gold ring set still locked together as one piece!!!

I saw pure joy, happiness, and relief on Alex’s face as we all celebrated!  You can definitely see it in the photo below where she’s looking down at the ring back on her finger where it belongs!  I praised and thanked the Lord!  The night before and on my drive to Tuskegee, I asked God to guide me to Alex’s ring.  He sure delivered a quick, safe, and successful search!

Some people might consider that driving 7 hours (450 miles) to spend 10-15 minutes finding a complete stranger’s ring is just plain crazy.  But this is what I live for!  I love conducting these searches and seeing the priceless reaction on someone’s face when you find their lost item and return it to them.  It never gets old!

If you or someone you know has lost a ring, jewelry, or other metal item, please contact a member of The Ring Finders.