Northland Jewellery Recoveries Tag | The Ring Finders

Silver Ring lost in Kerikeri Garden While Throwing Dog Toy

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Giorgia was visiting family in Kerikeri over the summer break, having come up from Wellington.
While out in the garden, she was throwing toys for the dog when she suddenly thought she saw her silver ring flying through the air.
A quick check of her hand confirmed it—she had lost her ring.
The family quickly sprang into action, searching the lawn, but to no avail.

She contacted me a couple of days later, and before long, I was standing in their garden, recreating the sequence of events with her over the phone.

By this point, Giorgia had returned to Wellington, but talking to her on the phone, she thought the ring might be in the shrubbery to the right of where she had been standing, or possibly as far as 20 meters away in some bushes near the garage.

The dog had only been trained to retrieve toys, not rings…

I covered the likely areas, and because she mentioned seeing the ring airborne, I was able to focus on a fairly tight search quadrant.
As often happens, though, it wasn’t where she thought it would be.

This is when I switched to my ‘unknown location’ search pattern, and sure enough, twenty minutes later, I found the ring tucked into the thatch of the manicured lawn—nearly 90° from the initially indicated direction of travel, and behind a large tree, 15 meters from where she had been standing. It was a spot the family had already searched.

The ring must have bounced off the branches, which deflected it down and behind the tree.
Every search has its unique twists and turns.

 

Platinum and Diamond Engagement Ring – Quickly Found in Tutukaka Paddock

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Jess contacted me with an urgent request. She had flown in from Australia to attend a friend’s wedding in Tutukaka, and during the evening, she lost her valuable engagement ring.

They had checked the bins in the bathrooms, the car interior, and various other areas of the venue where the ring could have been lost, but to no avail.

Someone recommended they contact me, especially since they were leaving Tutukaka the next day to head back to Australia.

I arrived first thing the next morning and went through the « 20 Questions » to identify areas of highest probability. I agreed with their reasoning that the parking paddock was a very high-probability location for the loss. Jess pointed out the area where their car had been parked, and I started the grid search, beginning wide to ensure the surrounding area was also cleared.

A couple of minutes later, I found a beautiful diamond engagement ring. The two-tone gold/platinum band was perfectly camouflaged against the dried grass cuttings. You could have looked directly at it and not seen it.

I held it up to show Jess, and her face lit up. 🙂

Job done, and another irreplaceable ring safely back on the finger.

Gold Bangle Found at Whangaumu Bay after a Week in the Sea

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Carol was swimming with her family at Whangaumu Bay (Wellingtons Bay) a week ago, play-fighting with her son in the water, when her treasured gold bangle of 15 years slipped off her wrist and sank into the sand at their feet.

However, she didn’t actually realise it had been lost until later in the day, long after leaving the beach.

With bad weather forecast, I started the search earlier than planned, progressively working deeper as I followed the breakers back and forth along the beach.

After some time—and a lot of can pull tabs—a good signal came through. Seconds later, I was looking at a beautiful solid gold bangle in the scoop. A little worse for wear after being scoured by sand for a week, but it was now safely secured.

A few days later, I met up with Carol and handed over her bangle. Surprisingly, it was, and apparently had always been, a tight fit to get on and off her wrist. So, how it slipped off is still a mystery, even allowing for the usual « ring-removal effects » of cold water.

Ring Lost at Whale Bay, Matapouri – Found in the Sea.

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Natalie and her partner were enjoying the summer at one of Northland’s secrets — Whale Bay, near Matapouri. Waist-deep in the water, they were playing volleyball when she saw her treasured ring fly off her finger as she hit the ball.

The first ring her partner gave her, gold and aquamarine, it was irreplaceable due to the significance it carried.

They spent some time with masks and snorkels looking for it, but by then, it had already been covered by the light and mobile, broken-shell sand.

She posted a plea in the local Facebook groups, and my reputation for success led people to recommend me.

We met in the car park and followed the track down through the bush to the bay. As we passed each window in the trees, the beach came into view, and you could see why it was one of the most popular local spots.

On reaching the sand, we went over the backstory of the what’s and where’s, and I began the search pattern.

Once the intertidal sand was cleared, I moved into the water. The sand was deep and soft where it was being actively pulled down from the beach, but after a few more minutes, I was wading ashore with a smile.

Natalie started walking toward me, her expression uncertain — and I wondered if she thought I had given up. Then I held out the sand scoop to her, and there it was.
Her precious ring, safely sitting at the bottom.

Her prompt call to a ring finder with 37 years of experience and a solid success rate gave her the best possible chance of recovering her ring.
And all for less than the cost and uncertainty of hiring a DIY metal detector.

 

Gold and Diamond Ring Lost at Coopers Beach – Found

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Jess and family were up in Doubtless Bay yesterday, and went for a swim at Little Cable Bay.
As her husband waded into the water, he got caught by a wave and his brand new gold and diamond wedding ring was swept from his finger.
Jess’ mum posted on the local Facebook group pleading for help, and I threw the kit into the car and started the 70km journey north.
Low tide was approaching so I focused first on the waters edge, before switching to the submersible kit to clear out a bit wider before that area was lost to the incoming tide.

Another metal detectorist turned up to search a little later on, and I was grateful he didn’t interfere too much with my search pattern.
Unsure of his intentions (a lot of detectorists are what I refer to as ‘ring collectors’), I was keeping half an eye on him which was a distraction.
He didn’t last long though and headed away again after about an hour, this is where my success rate comes from – I don’t give up.

As the sun set, the family had to head away to put their young child to bed, so we shook hands and I carried on.
Night fell as the search continued, eventually overlapping the other detectorists grid, when I got a signal that could only be it – located under the other guys footprint in the sand!
The scoop went in, and about 4″ down I saw the edge of a ring in the sand
Lifting it out it was definitely the one. Job done.
As it was late, I wasn’t able to catch up with them that night, so  this morning, I met up with them for the handover as they headed south for home.

Their Christmas is now much brighter than it had been 12Hrs ago.

Lost Triple Russian Wedding Ring Found in Whangarei Garden

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Jo realised her triple Russian wedding ring was missing one afternoon.
Unsure of when or where she had lost it, she turned to me for help.

She had been mowing the paddock with the ride on mower, and had stopped a couple of times to clear the blocked chute of heavy, wet grass.
– Or was it when she had been laying out pea-straw on the garden?

As a heavy shower started to fall, I decided to clear the pea-straw first – No sense in getting all the wet weather gear on for a long paddock search if I didn’t need to.
It was too cramped between the veges for the main machine, and even the 4″ coil would have been banging into and damaging her veges so I opted for the pinpointer.
Halfway down the second row of leeks, I picked up a signal.
I pulled the straw back and there were three golden rings lying on the soil surface.

All done in a couple of minutes, and a quick dash back under the cover of the house eaves while I waited for Jo to emerge from the house.

Wedding Ring Lost in Doubtless Bay, Found at 2am

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Marys husband was fishing at Whatuwhiwhi while on holiday in the Doubtless Bay area.
He was doing quite well, and landed a nice Kahawai.
While he was cleaning the fish in the tide, his wedding ring slipped off and was lost.
Mary later posted on the local Facebook pages asking for people to keep an eye out for it – I know the beach well, and knew it would be unlikely to be exposed on the surface until a favourable erosion event took place – if ever.
On the basis of this, and with an earlier « Pay it Forward » recovery in-hand, I decided to make the 100km trip to Tokerau peninsula to catch the next low tide…at 3am.
It was a pleasant night, clear skies meant that I was able to work the beach by starlight and the light breeze coming off the sea carried the smell of seaweed.
It doesn’t get much better than this.
I had a rough start point, so started to work back and forth along the beach as the tide dropped.
With a campground nearby, the usual aluminium can tabs were present in good numbers though.
An hour passed, then in the wash at the waters edge, I got a double-thump in the phones.
The broken shell sand was loose enough for me to push my hand into it and my fingers closed around a familiar shape.  I glanced at my watch, it was just after 2am.
I took the Trophy Photo and, as it was such a pleasant night, carried on detecting on spec.
Until the novelty of can tabs wore off.
I waited until a reasonable hour before messaging Mary, unfortunately she didn’t see it before I had to head back south.
About a week later we were able to meet up and I could hand her husbands ring back.

Lost Ring on Lawn at Whangaruru, Found!

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Three weeks ago, Howard threw some kitchen scraps out into the garden – but the bowl, and his sovereign ring, went with them.
After spending some time looking for it, he was considered hiring a metal detector and happened to mention it to a relation who works a gold claim overseas.
« Get someone who knows what they’re doing » was the advice given, and shortly afterwards, Howard phoned me.

I headed over to Whangaruru the next morning, Howard waving to me from the deck as I missed his driveway…

There were several potential locations which could have held the ring and made for a difficult search, including a series of deep postholes drilled for a deck extension, partially filled with water.
Then there was the tangled patch of Honeysuckle vines at the edge of some regenerating scrub and further over, the garden dropped away down a steep, overgrown bank.

I quickly cleared the easiest area of lawn (and the postholes), before setting up to search the undergrowth.
Experience told me where the likely arc and distance of the ring would be as I started to move into the scrub.

Within a few minutes, I had located Howard’s ring tucked out of sight under some weeds at the base of a tree, at the edge of the dropoff.
Howard was mowing, and I held up the ring as he glanced over – Both arms went up and he gave a celebratory yell!

Just thirty minutes from getting out of the car, I was on my way home with Howard now having a much better day.

For less than the cost of hiring a metal detector, Howard’s decision to engage an experienced Ring Finder gave him the very best chance of having his ring quickly located.

Lost Ring Found in Plantings – Russell, Bay of Islands.

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

I have a couple of people for whom I have found lost rings, not once but twice…
Paul is one of them.

I got a call from him saying he’d done it again!

I had previously found his ring almost exactly two years ago on the Russell beach, this time he’d lost it while working on planting some shrubs and it could have been in one of two locations.

The first was where he’d been trimming and clearing a well established patch of succulents – lots of potential nooks and crannies for a ring to drop down into, or hang up. I gave it a quick search without getting ‘down and dirty’ with the pinpointer before checking out what the second location looked like.

This alternative spot was a much larger area, but relatively open and I could close this off quickly with a very high probability of detection. If it wasn’t here I could then return to the original and devote the rest of the time going through it inch by inch.

This garden bed was raised up about 5′ from the road, and Paul had been planting, weeding, spreading bark and throwing garden waste across and down onto the truck deck, there was a possibility the ring may have come off and traveled across the road, in the direction of a steep bank.
I’d worry about that option later!

Starting at one end, I systematically made my way along the plantings until, under a small tussock, I saw the edge of a partially buried ring as the coil passed over it and triggered.

A quick TXT to Paul to let him know his lost ring was safe, again – and some relief on my part that I didn’t have to spend a fair few hours grubbing around up to my armpits in succulents at the first location.

Ring Lost in Whangarei Paddock Six Months Ago, Found in 20min

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)

Simon had been laying out a course in some paddocks near Kamo, outside Whangarei on a hot January day.
Afterwards, he headed to a water trough, removed his gloves and plunged his hands into the cool water.
As he walked away shaking his hands to dry them off, he noticed his wedding ring was missing.

The sludge in the bottom of the trough was searched several times for the lost ring and his wife hired a metal detector, but without experience their efforts were in vain.

Fast forward six months, and I was on the road to meet Simon at the paddock to see what I could do.

He had been held up, so I got started.

Twenty minutes later I sent Simon a photo of a muddy ring, found some distance from the trough likely having been flung as he shook his hands.
He arrived just a few minutes later – not quite believing I had already found it.