I received a text one afternoon that seemed a little strange. Debbie had lost an expensive ring and was losing sleep over it. The message focused on how far I was willing to drive and the cost of a several hundred mile ring call. I asked about the ring and got a very vague description of a costly ring with a big diamond and that she was sick over losing it. She was asking me to drive several hundred miles to search, but she was not willing to pay a large amount, and that was assuming I found the ring.
When someone is having health problems and losing sleep over a lost item, I figure I will have to go, regardless if they can afford me. I offered to drive up the next day. I was almost releaved to find she no longer lived in Michigan and would not return for many months. « I will let you know the details later » she said. Perfect I thought, I will likely not hear from her again.
The next time Debbie contacted me it was with a date several weeks in advance. I agreed to the date and got a precious few more details. It was a very expensive ring and she knew exactly where she lost it several years ago. She left me with the impression it was a huge diamond on a thin white gold band.
So now I have a commitment to drive several hundred miles, the promise of a relatively small reward, the ring was lost a few years ago and it is tiny so it will be difficult to find. She knows right where it is in the back yard and has looked hard to find it herself, so no doubt it is now below the surface.
The appointed day came and because I couldn’t interest anyone else in taking the call, I got in the car and drove for two and a half hours to meet Debbie and her mother at her mother’s home in Beaverton. About half way there it started raining so hard I could hardly see to drive.
I tried to maintain my confidence as I realized the back yard was about 40 acres and it was overgrown. Debbie led me across the mowed yard and into the brush. Eventually we reached a very non descript spot on a almost non existant trail. Debbie stopped abruptly and declared « this is the spot » and starts wacking at the brush. Her mother behind me is also wacking at brush. I cant even swing the detector and in fact, I haven’t move a step from where Debbie abruptly stoped.
I had enough of this ever worsening scenario. They were destroying the site and all I could detect was the oversized mucking boots both ladies are wearing. I have never ordered a client to leave a search before, and I knew both ladies were worried as the ring was very valuable. They wanted to watch but it was raining and I talked them into going back to the house.
As they walked away I swung the detector in the original spot Debbie had just trampled and got a hit, a faint but clean repeatable 40 on the meter. My pinpointer located the ring a second later. I had not moved from the spot where I was standing when Debbie halted the procession.
I shot a little video of the ring in the hole because it was difficult to see the ring in a picture. Click here to watch me find this beautiful ring: https://youtu.be/oRjJsu1IWq4 Sadly the video I made minutes later when I went to the back door did not come out well. It was hard to keep a discouraged look on my face while I explained it was raining too hard to continue searching. She was shocked when I handed her the ring.
I think this was the most beautiful ring I have ever found. It was nothing like the ring Debbie described. Yes it had a big diamond but it was so much finer than the plain band they led me to believe I was looking for.
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