The Ring Finders
Metal Detecting Service Inc.

As Ring Finders, we get a lot of calls to recover jewelry soon after it was lost. Unfortunately, some people inadvertently make it harder to find their jewelry after they lose it. Here are some tips to help recover your ring, earring, necklace, watch or other jewelry:

1. The first thing to do is STOP. Look around, notice where you are, and what landmarks are right near by. If you are at the beach, are you near a lifeguard station, cabana, boardwalk or trash can? At a park, are you near a light pole, bench, tree or volleyball court? Unfortunately, too many people can only say, “I lost my ring on Baker Beach” which is hundreds of acres in size, and far too large to search.
2. Next, retrack your steps. When do you last remember wearing your jewelry? What is the last thing you remember doing? For example, it is quite common to lose a ring after applying lotion or washing your hands. Earrings and necklaces can slip off during sports, while changing clothes, or while arranging picnics and blankets.
3. Make a specific list of the places you have been since last seeing your ring.
4. Now you are ready to search.

When you search for your item, be gentle. Tell everyone to walk around slowly, and search with their eyes. Avoid using rakes or other tools, as far more items are dragged into cracks, drains, holes, etc. by inexperienced searching than are recovered that way. You cannot recover what you do not see!

Do you have a smart phone? Open up the map, drop a pin on your location, and send the pin to a friend. This will save the GPS coordinates of your location so we can go right to that same spot later. This is VERY important on large beaches.

At the beaches in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Soquel, Aptos, Capitola, Monterey and Carmel, we commonly recover items as deep as 6 or 8 inches, even when they were lost that day. The ring will usually start about half an inch under the sand, but get pushed deeper as it gets stepped on by searchers. While our equipment can find items up to about 10-12 inches, recoveries that deep are much harder than those on the surface. If you know where the item is lost, and cannot see it, call us quickly!

At parks in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, lost items usually remain on the surface, hidden in the grass or ground covering. Our advice is the same: Walk the area slowly and gently, using your eyes to do the work. Many items can be recovered through careful visual searches. Avoid rakes or other tools: we have seen small items tossed ten feet through the air when they catch on a a rake tine, then the rake hits a bump. Sproing!

If you do not find your item, do two things quickly:

• Post a description of your item, and where you lost it, on Craigs List.
• Contact Ring Finders.

We have successfully recovered jewelry of every description all up and down the San Francisco Peninsula. People have contacted Ring Finders from San Jose, Santa Clara, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Redwood City, San Mateo, San Francisco, Sausalito, Santa Rosa and Mill Valley. We work at parks, schools, private property (with permission) and businesses. We’ve also done beach recoveries in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Soquel, Aptos, Capitola, Monterey and Carmel.

If you have lost a ring or other jewelry in the San Jose-San Francisco area, contact me. We work on a reward-only basis. My daughter and I frequently hunt together, increasing your chances of recovery. Click here to read more stories about finding lost rings.

Good luck!

Phone   408-256-3796Email   Dave.Millman@TheRingFinders.comP.S. If your ring is still on your finger, make sure it isn’t loose, and inscribe your name or ID on the inside!