NZ Ring Finder Tag | The Ring Finders

Lost Ring on Lawn at Whangaruru, Found!

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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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.

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

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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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.

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

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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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.

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Special Ring Lost in Sea at Rangiputa, Doubtless Bay – Found after 2 days

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Rangiputa on the Karikari Peninsula bordering Doubtless Bay is a pristine white sand beach with crystal clear ocean waters, a popular spot for holidaymakers year round.
And Justine was no exception.

Two nights ago, as the water was so calm, she went for a midnight swim out into the bay…  It wasn’t until the following day that she realised with horror that her bespoke handcrafted garnet ring was missing.

Made to mark her 50th by a local jeweler, she was understandably distraught and as with most rings, it was the sentimental value rather than the monetary.

She got hold of my number and gave me a call about midday today – the tide was already rising, and they were due to head home in the afternoon.
I gave my apologies to my long-suffering wife, left my lunch and loaded the car.

A little over an hour later I was pulling up at Reef Lodge where she was staying. We are well on the way to winter here in New Zealand and even in the Far North the water temperature was already cool enough to warrant the light wetsuit, especially as I could be in the water for 4-5Hrs.

Rangiputa has an almost flat contour along the inner coast, a plus as there is minimal sand movement to bury the ring although the major downside is that the potential area becomes huge.
I started out wide and began working my way ashore, systematically covering every square inch with the coil. Just one less than diligent swing might see the ring missed.
This is where the discipline and methodology of an experienced Ringfinder comes into play and what gives me my exceptional hit rate…Even if it takes many, many hours.

A strong signal came through, the scoop went into the sand and…a fishing weight. The search continued. A short time later another likely target turned out to be a piece of foil, likely from some beach cooking many years ago – the heart rate subsided and I continued on.

About forty five minutes later a good double tone came through the headset and the scoop went in once again, the white sand drained out through the holes leaving a layer of small shells, and a ring.

I held it up to Justine sitting on the shore, and started to make my way in.

The wonderful reactions people have when I hand them their ‘Lost Forever’ items is the core of what really drives me as a Ringfinder.

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Gold and Greenstone Ring Lost at Coopers Beach, Quickly Recovered

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Jamie posted on the local Facebook page that he’d lost his treasured gold ring, passed down from his uncle, while on holiday at Coopers Beach the previous day.
Unfortunately he had posted very detailed information as to the location.
Knowing this beach was regularly worked by casual metal detectorists, time was of the essence.
I got hold of him directly and was quickly on the road, making the 80km drive to the beach.

Arriving at Coopers Beach, it was heartening to see that there were no tell-tale scoop marks or gridlines in the sand and I got started.
Just under an hour after seeing his Facebook post, I was sending a photo of the ring to Jamie – It was now safely secured.

A couple of weeks later, I was working further down country and Jamie made the drive to meet me so I could hand over his lost ring.

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Valuable Heirloom Gold Ring Lost for 6 Weeks, Found in Compost Pile

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Maureen habitually took off her heirloom ring in the kitchen, a beautiful gold, diamond and emerald ring handed down from her Grandmother.
One day, she caught up the ring as she swept the peelings off the benchtop into the bin.

She didn’t realise until later when she went to collect the ring and noticed it was no longer in its place.

A frantic search yielded no sign of it, and with subsequent searches over the next few weeks she narrowed it down to either having been thrown out with the rubbish, or buried in the compost.

She gave me a call, obviously there was nothing I could do in the worst case scenario of it going out in the rubbish collection, however I could search the compost (I’ve searched through far worse than domestic compost in the past!).

A quick scan with the high powered machine gave a target deep in the bin, could be a ring, or could be foil.
Only one way to find out, roll up the sleeves and on with the nitrile gloves.

I had a rough idea of where it sat inside the compost and it was well down after six weeks of additional food scraps and lawn clippings.
A dense cloud of fruit flies instantly erupted out of the compost as I scooped most of the recent material away and investigated deeper with the handheld probe.

Wasn’t long before I had pinpointed the location and I dug further into the slimy mass, checking each handful until I caught a glimpse of gold in the ooze.

I lifted it out and showed a tearful Maureen.
A quick rinse under the garden tap and it shone brightly once again, no worse off for it’s little adventure and another story added to its hundred-plus history.

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Two Rings Lost at Taipa Beach, Recovered and Returned Within Minutes

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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A very quick recovery a little while ago…

Kaiah gave me a call asking if I was able to locate her two sentimental rings she had lost at Taipa, she was about to head out of the district and was very anxious to recover them before she left.
Having put them in her cap for safe keeping while she went for a swim, she subsequently forgot about them on her return and grabbed the hat with the rings still inside and headed back to the car.
She met me on site and showed me where she thought they might be and I started the search, retracing her route back towards the car.

As I expanded the search area I quickly located one ring, then the other a few metres away.

 

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Ring lost in Surf at Woolleys Bay, Recovered at 4am

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Joanne posted on Facebook that she had lost her special silver ring in the surf at Woolleys bay, and asked if anyone had found it.

Knowing the beach well, I knew the ring would already be well under the surface, and likely quite deep with a few tides having passed since.
I very rarely solicit recoveries, however there was a very small window to be able to have any chance of recovering this ring, so I made contact.

Leaving at 1am that night, I made the two hour drive to Woolleys Bay. There was still enough moonlight to see without artificial lights, it’s very meditative searching a remote surf beach at night.
I got started in the cool morning air.

Joanne had given me a rough location, the time it was lost and a photo taken at the time showing the group in the water.

Recent rough seas had changed the contour of the beach and I calculated the delicate silver ring would likely have moved further seawards down the steep slope so biased the first grid to account for this.

As the tide started to turn and the sweeping waves started to absorb my grid lines, I heard a small fluctuation in the background tone.
I re-scanned it with different settings and decided it was definitely a viable target

The shingle was below tide water level and collapsed as quickly as I could dig with the scoop. After about four or five rapid scoops, whatever it was now lay in the small mound on the beach.
It didn’t take long before a silver ring matching the description was laying in my hand.

4am was a bit too early to call Joanne with the good news(!),  so I headed off to kill some time until a more civilised hour.

Later that day, Joanne met up with me a little way down the coast at Whangaumu Bay for the handover.

It wasn’t a valuable ring, but was treasured by Joanne as it had been purchased on a holiday and encapsulated those special memories.
You couldn’t replace that.

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Opal Necklace and Ring Both Found in Surf at Taupo Bay

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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While on holiday at Taupo Bay, Kelsie did what so many do – she threaded her ring onto her necklace for safekeeping.
Wading back in in through the surf, she undid the clasp to put the ring on her finger, and promptly dropped everything; The opal ring, the opal pendant and the chain.

The water was shallow, but the wash instantly claimed all three and in one swirl of water they slid into the sand and out of sight. Lost.
Her friend put a post on the local community noticeboard the next day asking for help and several locals suggested that she contact me.

I went out straight after work, large swells were forecast and time was of the essence on this active surf beach.

The surf was already building rapidly, occasional 2-3m breakers offshore were producing a powerful surge running up and onto the beach.
Some locals set up a line of beach chairs and settled in to watch what I refer to as « The worlds most boring spectator sport ».
A couple of minutes into the search a powerful surge came in, instantly wrapping a large ball of seaweed around the detector shaft and, before I could react – snapped the metal shaft!

Fortunately I also had my other water machine in the car, although the smaller coil would mean more swings and with the iron sand present it would be unlikely to locate the fine chain. The ring and pendant were the critical pieces though.

I started the grid, focusing on the water first. Closing off this search area, I then moved inshore where the wash had now subsided and more beach had been exposed.
Before long, a silver and opal ring was extracted from about 15cm down in amongst the iron sand.
I had a solid start point, and in quick order an opal pendant followed.

Now to try for the chain…

I would be on the back foot looking for a delicate chain in these conditions, so with the machine wound right open I started to conduct an intensive grid in the area. Regrettably, I was unable to hear the chain in the chatter from the iron sand.

The two important key pieces had been recovered though, much to Kelsies relief.

 

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Lost ring Found in Water at Kowharewa Bay, Tutukaka, NZ

  • from Paihia (New Zealand)
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Chris was on holiday in Tutukaka, near Ngunguru in New Zealand. Shortly before he left, he and some friends went for a swim out from Kowharewa Bay, a shallow bay inside Tutukaka harbour.
On returning to the beach, he noticed his sentimental gold and palladium wedding ring was no longer on his finger.

His friends put a post up on the local Facebook community group asking if anyone had found a wedding ring at Kowharewa Bay. Posting on Social Media is a common reaction of people desperate to have their lost ring returned, unfortunately in this day and age it also attracts the wrong sort who actively seek to pocket the lost ring.

I was fortunate to see this post early though, and given the tides it was very unlikely anyone would attempt until the following day. I was on the road at 1am the next morning, making the long drive to Tutukaka to catch the 4am low tide.

This time of year, I do not do deep wades at night – Being ‘bumped’ by a shark on a night water search last summer was very unsettling. I could however cover the beach and shallows, thus minimising the likelihood of a ‘magpie’ detectorist sniping the ring. I would return on the afternoon tide to cover the extensive area out wide in the bay.

I spent the high tide period that morning snoozing in the shade, catching up on lost sleep from the early start. Then, as the tide fell, I commenced the water search.

It was a huge potential area, with only a fixed start point of a boat ramp, and a general direction. It would be easy for less experienced people to get ‘lazy’ with the coil, especially as the hours wear on and the arms start to hurt from pushing the detector against the water resistance.
Progressively moving out into the bay as the tide fell, I had covered just over 3,000 square metres; 3,097 to be exact. Yet another aluminium can pull tab had just been put in the pouch and on checking the location again, caught the sound of a probable ring at the outer edge of the swing.

The scoop slid through the mud and came to the surface, a plume of grey spreading out behind it. My fingers felt through the mud retained in the scoop and closed on a wide wedding band. I checked for an inscription as mentioned in the Facebook post, yes. The odds were very good this was the one.

I marked the spot just in case I needed to restart the search and went ashore to phone the Chris. He gave me a bible verse over the phone, to which I replied, « I have your ring here! »
A stunned silence for a few seconds before I heard the reaction on the other end of the phone… The sort of reaction that gives me the ‘warm fuzzies’ and drives me to do my utmost to reunite people with their lost items.

Chris’ friends met me shortly afterwards so I could hand the ring over to them, they would pass it on to him next time they met.It had been a very long day, so another short kip under the trees before the long drive home.

My tenacity and attention to detail is what gives me the edge and enables me to maintain a 95+% success rate. If you have had a friend or neighbour try to find your lost ring without success, don’t give it up as truly lost – give me a call 🙂

Please, please, don’t post detailed locations on Social Media. Contact an experienced Ring Finder as soon as possible for the best chance of getting your precious lost ring, bracelet, watch or necklace back. If you do want to post in case someone has , or may find it, keep it vague. A simple photo with any inscription and just the name of the beach will suffice.

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