Stan Ross, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 71 of 73

Lost Rings … Newport Beach, CA. … Found in Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Sunday, Sept. 13, 2013

I checked my emails about 9:30 pm Sunday night. Jordin had emailed me about 6 pm. Inquiring about how “The RingfFinders” service works. I wrote a reply with a short explanation, asking her to call me at any hour. She called me about 7am. Giving me directions to where she lost her rings two days before. Again I raced to the beach trying to beat the beach cleaning machine or possible another hobby detectorist that doesn’t know how to return a sentimental piece of jewelry.

Jordin is from Bakersfield, CA.,visiting her father in Newport Beach and will be returning tomorrow. Saturday, she took her children to the beach and had put her rings in her backpack with the kids toys. When she got to the beach she dumped the toys on the sand. She did not realize till Sunday morning that her rings were lost.. She spent several hours Sunday sifting through the sand and went that night with a flashlight hoping to see a reflection from the diamonds. Her search was not successful and she did not want to tell her father. The larger of the two rings was her mother’s wedding ring and her mother had past away when she was 3 years old. The ring was given to her when she turned 18 years old. How could that ring ever be replaced ?

After following the directions that Jordin gave me over the phone. I was at the beach within 30 minutes and both the rings were in my scoop after grid searching about 20 square feet. I took a photo and sent it to Jordin with a message. Just after I sent the message she came walking towards me from across the beach. When she got to me I asked her if she got my message. She said she had not recieved it.  Then I held up her two rings.. That turned on her tears of joy..

The next day, I came to the same beach area and I could see where the beach sifting machine had passed over the same area on the beach where I had recovered the rings. It feels so good to be able to use my years of using a metal detector to help Jordin and others..

IMG_2585 IMG_2570

Lost Diamond Wedding Ring… Seal Beach, CA… Found in Surf

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

IMG_2507IMG_0338

IMG_0337

Sunday, Sept. 01, 2013

Chrisy’s mother called me excited that I had answered the phone. Her daughter had lost her diamond wedding ring in ankle to knee deep water while throwing a football. While searching the internet Christy’s mom some how called DeMarco Detector Sales in New Jersey. Joe DeMarco helped her to locate my phone number (Thanks Joe) . She contacted me. It was 4pm and the tide was coming in, but I made the trip to talk to Christy and her husband Ryan. It’s half the battle to get the location and all the information that will help make the search successful. They showed me the area and she explained that she was sure it was on her finger before playing ball, but she did not exactly feel when she lost the ring.   I told them I would return at 1 am in the morning. I was worried because the sand was very soft, mushy and there was no shell or rock base. After searching for 2 hours the ring showed up in my scoop. Actually it was less than 4 inches deep. What a beauty !! King Neptune doesn’t get to keep this ring. Christy and Ryan walked out onto the beach 10 minutes after I found the ring. It was like a new years celebration at 2:30 am with 3 people.

This was one of 17 rings found and returned using My Minelab CTX 3030 metal detector sense January, 2013.

Lost Ring… Strand Beach, Dana Point, CA… Found in Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Chunky – White Gold – with 1 ct. Square Cut Diamond

I had just finished doing some recreational detecting of 27 fire pits at Corona Delmar Beach. I like to practice detecting around the fire pits because it’s a challenge to find a good targets amongst all the trash. That’s how I entertain myself. I call it practicing my hobby. Driving home with my detectors ready to go, I got a ringfinders call out from Emily.. She lost a gold ring yesterday afternoon while trying to catch a football. Her and her friends spent hours crawling around on the beach running their fingers thought the sand to no avail.

In the morning Emily and her friend got online and found a link that brought up The RingFinders. I always carry my cell phone and pulled to the side of the road to get the directions and ask a few questions. I did ask her what type material was it made of and was it small or large. She told me it was gold and it was “Chunky”.  I had to drive about 10 miles and walk down about 150 steps. By the time I got to the location I Emily had text message a google map and other information. The best help was they were near a group of 3 trash cans and about 20 ft. from the rocks . I started in a straight line swinging slow and low. Only 30 ft. into the search I got a signal that almost overloaded my detector. It was that beautiful unique ring and I now know what “Chunky” is. I sent her a text photo of her ring on my finger, saying Guess What.

What’s special about this is, we did this all with our smart phones and it wasn’t necessary for Emily to drive 40 miles to show me the location. It was less than an hour from the first call. We arranged to meet back in Newport Beach and she had her ring in about 2 hours from the time she called.  It was all smiles and a  big thank you. She promised me that she was never taking the ring to the beach. Also promised me to send me a message with the weight of her ring. It was definity unique and would have been a heart breaker to lose it.

IMG_2450 IMG_2456

Another Lost Ring.. Laguna Beach, CA.. Found in Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

I had just found a 56 year old ring for Marco about 20 minutes before and was only about a block from where I found Marco’s ring.  David came walking up to me and I figured he wanted to ask me ,”What’s the best thing you’ve ever found ?” I hear this 5 or 10 times a day when I get out before everybody leaves the beach.

David did look a little serious and he asked me if I could find a platinum ring he had lost the night before. I told him this is what I do and it should be easy if he was sure of the general area. This is what he told me. He was sitting on a stair step and fiddling with his ring(kind of rolling it with his other fingers) when it popped off right in front of him in the dry sand. He could not find it that night. The next morning he came directly to the place where the platinum ring slipped off his finger. This time he had equipt himself with a bucket, shovel and a sifting tool. David had excavated a 5 foot square area down about 8 or 10 inches and all the sand that had been sifted through the screen was piled up on  a rock. He was very organized and said he had spent more than two hours working his project.

I thought possibly the ring could have got buried too deep to find, because of the amount of sand that was moved. Trying to stay possitive, I searched the pile of sand and the excavated area. Then I did a couple passes of the coil just 3 or 4 ft. to the right of his digging. Right away there was a hit. A nice strong signal and up popped a beautiful platinum ring when I dug it with my scoop. I will not try to retrieve it with my fingers, because I know it is almost impossible. It just keeps slipping through your fingers..  David could not believe that it was that far away from where it dropped. He and his wife Kimberly were very happy to have their ring back and promised to recomend The RingFinders to all their friends and customers. They own a business in Laguna and have seen me on the beach before but didn’t know about our service.

IMG_2430 IMG_2434

Lost Wedding Band… Laguna Beach, CA… Found in Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Wednesday,  August 14, 2013

I was sitting at home trying to decide what beach I was going to today, when I got a call from Marco Semerano, who was vacationing in Laguna Beach with his family. He  had been helping his son dig a hole in the sand Tuesday afternoon when his ring slipped off his finger. He and his wife searched the rest of the day and that night they asked everybody around if there was any way to contact somebody with a detector. No body could help them so they went to the internet and called sporting goods stores, etc. with the idea of buying a detector. That’s when they found The RingFinders and my contact information. I’m only 7 miles away so I was out the door and met Marco on the beach where he was guarding the location where he had lost the ring.

Marco told me how important his ring was to him because it was his father’s. Rocco and Laurie Semerano married 12/29/57.. Knowing the history of his ring, I had to find this ring. I started to swing my search coil and I was getting odd signals so I asked them to move the metal beach chair. After moving the chair I swung my coil where it had been and behold the sound of gold. One scoop and there was Marco’s ring. His face lit up and so did mine.

Marco asked me for some cards because he wanted to make sure the people at the Hotel and the Lifeguards know about The RingFinders service. Someday people will automatically Google the RingFinders to get help. How often have I heard ” I didn’t know a service like this existed”. It’s nice to be part of this group and someday I’ll be able to say I was a member in the early days.

After a couple photos, we talked for a few minutes. Marco telling me the whole story of this ring and me telling him lost ring stories. Then I went off to spend the next few hours detecting on a beautiful beach for pleasure, this is what I do normally. It’s a tuff life. I love it..

IMG_2421 IMG_2418

Lost Ring… Seal Beach, CA… Found in Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Sunday, August 11, 2013

I was visiting my daughter in Seal Beach.  I always do a little detecting before I go to her house so I had my detecting equipment with me. Just as I was leaving to drive back to Newport Beach I received a call from Greg. His fiance, Charlet had found The RingFinders when searching the internet.  He and Charlet were just two blocks away from me on the beach and  Charlet had just lost her engagement ring in the sand while applying sunscreen. I told him not to dig or disturb the sand because it may bury the ring out of range of the detector.  When I got there everybody around them was aware that the ring had been lost and I had a big audience. Charlet pointed out the location where it was dropped and I swung the coil of the detector about four times and there was the ring.  It took less than 20 minutes from the time they called till I found the ring. Charlet and Greg were so greatful and it was very important not to start off their marriage by losing their engagement ring. They will be getting married in two months. It was a pleasure to help them and such a coincident that I was so close when they need my help.. I hope I never get tired of doing this. This wouldn’t really be possible without all the new technology especially the miracle of the internet.

IMG_2403

IMG_2400 IMG_2399

Lost Ring… Newport Beach,CA… Found in Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Saturday,  August 10,2013

I was up early just finishing a daily search for a ring lost in the surf last week when I received  a call from Kim. She had lost her ring yesterday. Kim figured she could try to rent a metal detector and find the ring herself.  When she got on line to find out where to rent a metal detector she found The RingFinders website and my phone number.  She called me about 6:00 am. I ask the people call me as soon as possible especially if the item is on the beach.. This time it worked out well. We beat the beach sifting machine again. ( I call it the ring eater )

Here is what happened. Kim  was at Newport Beach friday and she had taken off her ring to put on sun screen lotion. After getting home she realized that she had left the ring on the towel and never put the ring back on her finger. When she called me I  was only 2 miles away from the location where she lost it. She was able to give me very good directions over the phone and I worked a grid search and found the ring within 30 minutes. I sent her a picture and asked her to call me. She was so excited and we met later to give her the ring..

IMG_2392 IMG_2394

Lost Wedding Ring… Corona Del Mar Beach, CA… Found in Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Friday, August 8,2013

This evening I was using my detector on the beach as most the people were leaving to return home from their day at the beach. Jenny’s brother walked up to me and asked me if I can find metal or a ring with my machine. His sister had just lost her diamond wedding ring and he wanted to know if I could find the ring after they had searched for it over a half hour.

Jenny had carefully put her cherished diamond wedding ring in a hand bag at the beginning of her day at the beach with her big family group. As they were packing up to return home she went to her hand bag to get her ring back on her finger. It was dark when she reached into the bag to retrieve the ring and as she pulled her hand out  the ring fell into the sand. Everybody took a shot at finding the ring, digging through the sand with their fingers. It is nearly impossible to feel a small ring in most types of dry sand.

When I got there Jenny was really upset and crying out of control. She could barely tell me how she lost the ring. I told her not to worry, I do this all the time and it will be an easy search.. I set up my machine to find this white gold ring and was unaware of how small it was. I was listening for that nice gold sound and I found a couple coins, but no ring. My next move was to set my detector to accept all metal and picked up a screw and a hair pin. No ring.  Then I made some more fine adjustments to the sensitivity settings. It was my time to start worrying. I had annouced to all the onlookers how easy this was going to be and they were begining to look nervous after 20 minutes.. This time a heard a broken tin foil sound, telling everyone that this is tin foil but I’ll dig it to remove it from the search area. Even though it was dark, I could see Jenny’s ring in my sand scoop. She was standing in front of me and knew that I had found the ring. When I gave it to her she put it on and I couldn’t get her to take it off to take a photo of it.. Big hugs and congratulations from the whole family.. They do not know how I almost missed this small ring. It was probably deep and standing on edge or maybe there was a piece of tin foil in the same hole ? I’ve got to stay humble, there can be many variables to searching for jeweler. End result: Happy smiling faces and everyone knows about our group called The RingFinders.

IMG_2361 IMG_2363

Lost Keys … 1000 Steps Beach, Laguna Beach, CA. … Found in Sand

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

I got a call from Peyton’s grandfather who had found my number on The RingFinders website. He asked me if I could help them find a special set of keys that were lost on the beach two nights before. I was only a few minutes drive from 1000 Steps Beach, So. Laguna Beach, which is a beautiful beach and it would be nice place to search. The call came at 2pm and I met Peyton with his friends at 3:30pm. This beach is more or less isolated and there are not many guys detecting on a daily basis, also they do not use a beach cleaning machine on this beach. All these factors were a plus, to make this search successful..

Peyton is vacationing in Laguna Beach with his friends and were on the beach late at night when he decided to take a swim. He had these keys on a lanyard around his neck so he took it off so he wouldn’t lose them in the water. He laid the keys with his clothes at the crest of the beach. The tide was lower at this time of night. After swimming he put on his clothes and forgot about the keys until a few hours later. He a his friends spent the next morning and two more days looking for the keys and it should of been easy with the lanyard, but it was not easy.

After hearing his story of how he lost the keys and Peyton showing the general location. I started a spiral type grid search from top of beach to the surf.  The tide had come over this crest of the beach several times over the past few days and I thought the wave action could have pulled the keys with the lanyard down into the surf. The other possibility is the waves could have pushed the keys further over the crest of the beach onto what we call the towel line. It took about 25 minutes and I probably made 7 or 8 passes of 40 feet, when I got the 12-33 reading and a strong audio signal on my Minelab CTX 3030 metal detector. The keys were under 10 inches of soft fluffy sand that had been pushed up by the 6 ft. plus tides of the past two days. It is not an exact science knowing what the surf does with the sand. One day it pushes the sand in and the next day it takes the sand away from the beach.  It has to be good enough just to know that beach erosion works both ways and plan accordingly.

Peyton had been disapointed with himself for losing the keys, but now he was very happy to have these special keys back in his possession. I got the pleasure of helping him find the keys and search on a beautiful beach. The walk back to my car was only 200 steps up to Pacific Coast Hwy. ( not 1000 steps )
IMG_2324IMG_2328

Lost Ring … Del Mar Beach, CA.. In Surf at High Tide

  • from Newport Beach (California, United States)

Saturday – July 20, 2013     I received a call from Kathleen in Del Mar, CA. after she found my number on ” The RingFinders ” website.  She and her husband Jeff had been to the beach a couple days before at 6:30pm, which was about high tide.  Jeff was boogie boarding in the surf when he took a big wave and when he recovered from a wipeout he was missing his wedding band. While  talking with with Kathleen, I explained that it is a difficult search, because the detector can only detect ring size metal to a depth of 6″ to 8″ inches. Depending on surf conditions the sand can move more than a foot of sand in one tide. Kathleen gave me good directions, which made it easier to start hunting.

I drove to the location, arriving about 12 am. two hours before low tide. Setting up a grid search of 75 yards parallel to the beach. After five passes towards the receding tide I got my first and only signal.. There it was and I knew right away it was Jeff’s ring. It was just about 5″ or 6″ inches deep. I had been slowly swinging the detector for about 30 minutes overlaping each swing as not to miss a ringsize area. Missing a 3 inch area could make a 30 minute search turn into hours of hunting. I always tell people that I’m searching for, ” Just don’t watch me work, because it will drive a normal person crazy” It’s a slow and methodical process.

I text Kathleen a photo of the ring and asked her to call. She immediately called back with an excited voice. We set up a meeting and Jeff was outside his home waiting at 1 am when I drove up. I handed him his ring and he told me how he lost it. He is vacationing from Louisiana and is not familiar with westcoast surf.  Jeff said the wave picked him up smashing him under the water. When he came up he had sand in every orfice. Then he noticed the missing ring.  He just knew it was gone forever and probably half way to Hawaii by now.  He explained to me,  how he had told all his friends about his surfing experience and the loss of his ring. I only wish I could tell Jeff’s story the way he told it.  Now he can tell them a better story. ” The Recovery of his ring”   It was a pleasure to meet Jeff and talk to his wife on the phone and I am realizing that there are so many nice people in this world.. I love helping people with a skill that has taken me many years of experience and research to learn.. ( And Lots of Luck )

IMG_2312 IMG_2307