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.
The first thing to do is STOP. Look around, notice where you are, and what landmarks are nearby. If you are at the beach, which hotel/house are you at, 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 Ocean Beach” which is miles in length, and far too large to search.
Retrace 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.
Next, make a specific list of the places you have been since last seeing your ring.
Now you are ready to search. 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 North Myrtle Beach, Cherry Grove, Myrtle Beach, Sunset and Huntington Beach we commonly recover items as deep as 6 to 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!
If you’ve lost your ring on the beach or in the surf, it’s very important to remember the date, time and location of the loss. This will help us determine the tide levels for that period and to conduct an optimum search.
At parks in Horry County, 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 rake tine.
If you do not find your item quickly, contact The RingFinders! We have successfully recovered jewelry of every description all up and down the Grand Strand. People have contacted Ring Finders from North Myrtle and Myrtle Beach. We work at parks, schools, private property (with permission) and businesses.
If you have lost a ring or other jewelry in the North Myrtle Beach area, contact me. RingFinders work on a reward-only basis. Click here to read more stories about finding lost rings.
Good luck!
P.S. If your ring is still on your finger, make sure it isn’t loose, and inscribe your name or ID on the inside.
Originally posted on Sept 6, 2010 by Dave Millman
