Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
Not all recoveries are planned, some are random exercises in detective work.
I was working Matauri Bay beach doing a casual hunt before work this morning, when I dug an iPhone SE. Usually phones are no more than fancy spirit levels when they come out of the tide but this one was a recent loss and showed potential to be able to at least allow the owner to salvage their photos and contacts.
I headed off to work a bit early in order to put the phone through intensive care, quick rinse in fresh water, dried it off and delicately picked the sand out of the charging port. Firing it up, it flickered to life, complained about flat battery and shut down. It lives! Hopefully I could now reunite the owner with their rather expensive phone.
While I charged it, I swapped the sim out into my phone to discover a couple of missed calls which occurred after loss and looked promising leads.
Dropped the sim back into the found phone and sent a text to both numbers from my one explaining the situation and asking if they had a name I could follow up…and waited.
On the off-chance it had been dropped by a camper at the adjacent holiday park, I phoned the office to enquire if anyone had lost a phone recently.
“Yes, a white iPhone”, “Well, I have found it!” – A cheer is heard in the background at the other end of the line. I arranged to drop it off after work.
It seems Nakita had dropped it a couple of days previously, the fact it had survived at least three tides was a testament to the quality of the phone as it had lain under the sand at about the half-tide mark spending quite a few hours underwater at each high tide.
A family member gratefully accepted it on behalf, and I headed home.
I received a call from Hamid on Friday He lost his Hearing aid on trap line North of Gull Lake Saskatchewan. He had tried his Metal Detector’s and they wouldn’t find his other hearing aid. At a loss and looking at replacements that could cost up to $3000. He did some research finding the ring finders website and my number.
We decided that Sunday morning I would meet with him and go out on the the trapline. Before we left he had me check to see if the detectors I brought with me could find the hearing aid the Garrett AT Gold locate it ringing a solid 2, the Minelab X Terra 70 had weak signal.
I started the search from the location on the trail where he notice it missing. At this spot he had a tree branch brush the side of his head, and is the first time he noticed it missing. I started searching in wide grid pattern working from the left side of the trail to the right thought the tress and brush, moving in the direction he came from. There was a couple signals along the trail but they were a high VDI reading and about 6 inches in the ground I was looking for a shallow target. After sometime I got a solid signal of 2 about two feet next to the trail a inch deep in the snow aways down the trail.
Hamid couldn’t believe it when I bent down telling him it was his hearing aid and moving the snow away revealed the hearing aid. Its a great feeling being able to give back a lost item that some has lost being the smile on their faces!
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
It’s been a long, hot, and very dry summer – Perfect for beach-goers to relax on the sand, and lose their precious jewellery.
Marion contacted me after hearing about The Ringfinders, and explained how she had been holidaying as a guest at a private beach, notoriously difficult to access and requests from non-residents – Including Ringfinders on a recovery mission, were met with a negative answer.
Marion was also unable to regain access so I knew that I would have to call in some favours on this one in order to get through the electronic gate and be able to find her rings without coming back to find my car towed.
This is when I recalled a discussion with Tim last year after I found his ring at nearby Matauri Bay ( Story here). At the time, Tim had queried the likelihood of finding another ring with a 30 year headstart, lost in a rocky bay while surfing at the same private property. It wouldn’t have moved or been detected, but thirty years… and clefts and crevices would be needle in a haystack. The upside was he could gain access through his contacts, and I would spend some time looking for his ring first.
The duly appointed day arrived and as the gate slid open and I drove through, it felt like I was entering Hallowed ground. It was several kilometres to the bay, surrounded by the residents houses. Fully expecting to be challenged I was surprised to be waved at as I passed walkers and people tending their gardens. I casually waved back while working out a plan B in case I returned to find my car had been towed due to a breakdown in communication…
The bay where Tim lost his ring was a sea of basalt boulders, most weighing 40+ kg. Tim, his wife and I of us spent a full hour, each with pinpointers rummaging in and around, but short of a systematic stringline search taking some weeks, any recovery would have been pure dumb luck. We located the remains of a fishing reel and one fishing weight. Tim conceded his ring had a new home and at least we had spent a cumulative time of three hours on it.
We headed back to the main beach and as I got kitted up at the car, Tim and his wife took their chairs etc down the path onto the sand.
With my experience in Search and Rescue, I have developed a fondness for tracking humans, a skill which has served me well as a RingFinder. It wasn’t surprising to see that Tim and his wife had set up their chairs in the primary area of interest. Humans can be so predictable in their unconscious decisions!
“You are kidding?” when I asked Tim to move a dozen metres to the right. I briefly explained behavioural profiling and how we, as a species, tend to follow the same instinctive actions. They took it in good humour as they moved their new basecamp.
A few minutes later, Marions’ first white gold ring appeared in the scoop – right where Tim and his wife had been sitting! Tims wife didn’t believe how fast it had been found and as they were admiring the ring, I started the spiral search and less than a metre away, the second emerged.
I texted Marion the good news and as I headed back to the car, a young lad passed me with his metal detector heading for the beach…
Car keys are likely one of the easiest finds when conducting a search in the snow. In this case, the poor guy had his driveway snow banks all dug out and some of his front lawn too! It took less then a minute to help this gentleman out with the proper gear.
Don’t wait, call as soon as possible… Stan the Metal Detector Man …949-500-2136.. “I WILL TRY ANYWHERE “
*** Roz and Nema were sitting on a bench next to a local city lake in Irvine, CA.. She took two rings off her finger placing them on her lap while applying hand sanitizer. Forgetting that her rings were on her lap, she stood up and both rings fell into the lake.
A neighbor saw they needed help, volunteering to use his pool cleaning scoop to hopefully find the rings. The water depth varied from 3ft. to 4ft. with zero visibility. As he was attempting to find the rings, another neighbor told the distressed couple about TheRingFinders.com. She actually called me with her phone, handing it off to Roz.
Roz told me about the loss while I was just leaving another search. I had my water detector with me, so I was able to drive directly to their location. We only had about an hour of daylight left. Right away I got into the water and after pulling out many trash targets, the promise ring was found. They were amazed and happy to have this ring back.
It was dark so I decided to return the next day, even though they said it wasn’t necessary. They were very happy to have the promise ring recovered.
As a ring finder, I couldn’t give up so easy. Especially when we know the rings were lost directly in that location. It was less than ten miles from were I live.
I returned the next morning with my wetsuit and a 6” coil set up on my detector. My plan was to dig everything,as we weren’t sure what type metal the ring is. Roz thought it might be gold plated. After another hour in the water there was a high tone signal that gave me a #30 ID reading. It could be a quarter coin, aluminum or something silver. I scooped at the signal then looked into the scoop. “Bingo” gold colored ring with a big yellow stone. (Roz’s Ring). When I checked the ID reading out of ether water, it gave me a number #15. It was in the undercut of the embankment 4 ft. deep probably being masked by a piece of aluminum (?). I only regret that I didn’t find out what metal was masking the signal. Every search is a chance to gain more experience and I believe I’ve been on more than a thousand searches.
The rings are both back where they belong. This story of how the rings were lost and recovered will always be part of the Roz and Nema’s memories. I love being able to help people.
“I WILL TRY ANYWHERE “Don’t wait call now!Stan ..949-500-2136
Got a call from Mike last night who said his ring came off while grooming his dog.
They did a brief paw patrol but to no avail.
When I got on site today I learned that he had a grooming glove on and while removing it to flick the hair off, his ring flew off into the snow. I set up my MXT and started to grid search as he wasn’t quite sure which direction he thought it could be. Watching from behind the paw and wet nose smeared patio glass entrance was the dog with tail wagging excitedly wanting to join us. Scanning over the snow about 20′ from where he was I got a good, solid signal in a 4″ deep pile of snow over concrete. Using my pinpointer I probed into the pile and while scanning back and forth I felt the pinpointer make contact with an object. Brushing the snow aside revealed this very nice white gold ring shining back at me in the sunlight! I said hey Mike come take a look here and looking down on the snow, reaching down he scooped it up with excitement and was quite thrilled that it hadn’t flown further. Releasing the hound we watched as he excitedly zig zagged around us and the only way to calm him down was to pose for some puptacular pics!
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
Emeralds and Diamonds, oh my…..
Got a call yesterday from Grant that his wife had lost her ring in the sea at Oneroa/Long Beach in Russell 8-10 days ago. Fortunately the seas had been favourable since the loss, so there was a very good chance of a successful recovery.
I met Grant and Sarah on site (always increases the odds greatly if you can meet me) and as I kitted up, they marked out their best guess as to where ‘X’ marked the spot. As the tide was still falling, I did the easy bit on the wet sand first – just in case…
Alas, it was not to be and I had to head into the water, which was still surprisingly cool! I had been searching in waist deep water for a short time when I got a promising tone – on the second scoopful, the hole was silent and I washed the sand out of the scoop to be greeted with a beautiful ring sitting in the bottom. Job done I was going to call Grant and let him know I had something for him, when he turned up with Sarah, who gave me a big hug, despite me still being soaking wet
Three years ago, Andrew’s grandfather passed down the family gold ring. Fifty years before that, Andrew’s great grandfather, Ben, passed the ring to his grandson. The family heirloom ring began its journey in 1897, and it was up to me to help Andrew retrieve the lost treasure.
During my hour-long drive to Hamden, Connecticut, I tried to imagine the situation. I’ve never had a call like this in all the years I’ve been finding lost rings. There are many times where I get a story about a lost ring, and once I arrive, the investigation leads to an entire set of new circumstances. After all, how does a ring go missing after being hidden under a rock for safekeeping? I knew the lost ring was bordering a pond, so my instinct kept telling me it somehow ended up in the water. My next fear was the ring being inaccessible, and the bowels of earth swallowed it up for good. There was no telling what I might find.
Andrew went for a jog and realized he was still wearing his heirloom wedding band. Exercise is a common way jewelry is lost, so, understandably, Andrew removed the ring. After all, I remove my ring and place it in temporary hiding while landscaping. The rock where he hid the ring was at the top of a bank with a 45° slope to a pond’s edge. The bank was also part of a driveway lined with many other rocks and boulders. The stones varied in size, some as small as a softball, some as large as a car. Andrew took off his ring and placed it under one of the little rocks. He immediately heard the clink, clink, of the ring slipping into an erosion line and disappearing underneath an adjacent boulder. At 175 pounds per cubic foot, boulders are too big to move by hand. In the absence of heavy machinery, the only option was to try to dig. Because of the 45° slope, the ring kept sliding deeper and deeper underneath the boulder as Andrew attempted to hand-dig. Andrew reached as far as his arm would allow, and there was still space in the bottom of the cavern. Losing hope, Andrew had no idea if the ring had already been pulled out with the handfuls of dirt or if the ring was sliding deeper underground.
I arrived and took a quick walk around the area and down to the pond’s edge. I used my metal detector for a quick scan of the site to confirm the ring hand not been removed and was sitting in Andrew’s pile of dirt from a few days earlier. The thought crossed my mind to use heavy equipment, as it would have been faster and much less work, but the risk of damaging the ring would have been high. I was no stranger to manual labor, so I began by chipping away the asphalt driveway a couple of feet from the boulder where Andrew had already dug. In the past, I used a similar technique and pinch point bar to help a gentleman retrieve a time capsule entombed within a granite stone wall, so I knew how to break up the asphalt driveway carefully. Once I got through the asphalt layer into the compacted fill, I started tunneling towards the boulder where the ring was suspected to be lost. Accessing the lost ring from the side would hopefully prevent the ring from being pushed deeper underground. Before mining each fill layer, I used a small handheld metal detector, called a pinpointer, to crawl into the cavern and check for the ring. I then used my large metal detector to survey the excavated materials on the surface. I repeated this process for over an hour when I finally got a signal on my pinpointer. I set up a flashlight at the bottom of the dark cavern and scraped away the fill from the boulder base. The struggle was real. I was heavy breathing, sweating, and crammed in a hole laying on my stomach—all while and trying to hold my cell phone steady to get some decent footage. The relief of a shiny object flipping out of the area I was scrapping couldn’t have come sooner. The flashlight immediately revealed an inscription, “Ben April 7 1897.”
I backed out of the waist-deep hole, covered in dirt and sweat, but grasping the prize. All I could think about was the different generations who have worn this ring. I am sure every past owner has their stories of almost losing it. At the moment between finding the lost ring and notifying the owner, time stands still. All the stories, characters, and physical qualities of the ring finally meld. I was nostalgic about every life experience this ring has endured. The time came, and I handed the ring over to the family. With three generations of family members watching this whole mystery unfold, I knew the event would be discussed for decades to come. The smallest family member, too young to remember this event, will undoubtedly hear of the time the earth swallowed the family ring. When it comes time for the little one to carry the torch, the memories created today will contribute to the protection of this ring for another generation to come.
How to Find a Lost Ring
Mark the area where you believe the ring is lost. Then call a professional metal detectorist to discuss recovery options. My jewelry finding service covers Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and other surrounding states.
If you have a lost ring or something of value, contact Keith Wille now.
This ring find began when I got a text from fellow ring finder Dave Sheldon on Maui. Dave said a couple just lost the husband’s yellow gold wedding band in shallow water at Hilton Hawaiian Village beach and he referred them to me. A moment later I got a call from George who was on vacation from California. While tossing a football to his son in the water he realized his wedding band had come off. They had been playing awhile and he wasn’t sure when it had come off. I told George I’d grab my gear and be there in about 15 minutes. When I arrived George had me search around their lounge chairs as he wasn’t sure exactly when the ring came off. No luck there! I had George create an East & West line in the sand to create the grid. Thankfully the tide was coming down and they hadn’t gotten deeper than his chest. I started my grid search on the West end and worked East. Thankfully their weren’t many targets so I was able to cover the grid rather quickly. When I was a little bit past half way I got a nice tone on the Nox right at the waters edge and in one scoop their was George’s huge Gold Wedding band in my scoop. George ran down to retrieve his ring and he had a look of disbelief since the ring was right on the shoreline in inches of water when he thought it probably came off while throwing the football. Ring finders know the location of the ring is only known when it is found. George and his family were so thankful and that’s what makes this hobby so fun. Aloha to George!
I received an email from Rob on a Tuesday stating he lost his wedding band while taking down his Christmas decorations. He was devastated as the ring was his grandfathers who had passed away a couple months before Rob was born. Robs mother had given the ring to Rob when he proposed to his wife. The ring was the only item and memory he had of his grandfather. We had to wait until Saturday before I was available to search. I arrived on a very cold and windy Saturday morning and began searching the front yard as well as under the bushes in the flower beds. I searched for two hours without luck.
Rob came over to me as I was still searching and told me to give up as I had searched the entire yard twice. I told him, if it’s in this yard, I’ll find it. Just as I said that, I simultaneously began to move my detector and got a good hit as well as I saw something shiny in the grass. There was the ring sticking out from under a leaf. We could not believe we were standing over the ring and about to give up when I found it. His wife ran over to us and began to cry with excitement. I love being able to reunite lost jewelry to its owners.
Don’t wait or hesitate to call me at 610-207-8677, so I can find your lost treasure with my metal detecting service.
I received a call from Hamid on Friday He lost his Hearing aid on trap line North of Gull Lake Saskatchewan. He had tried his Metal Detector’s and they wouldn’t find his other hearing aid. At a loss and looking at replacements that could cost up to $3000. He did some research finding the ring finders website and my number.
