how to find a lost ring with a metal detector Tag | The Ring Finders

16 September 2024

When George lost the gold wedding band that had encircled his ring finger for 47 years he had little hope that he’d ever see it again.  He’d been enjoying a swim in chest deep water when he felt the ring slip off, and an attempted search in the mobile sand proved fruitless.  Later in the evening his daughter learned of the RingFinders through the Fabulous Falmouth Facebook page and early the next morning she called me to see if I might be able to help.  I of course said yes, I’d be happy to do a search.  She said she’d get in touch with her father, who lives off-Cape, so that we could arrange to meet and he could direct me to the area to search.  When I received his call and got some information about where he lost the ring I headed to the beach to start the search while he was on his way to meet me.  The timing was good, tide-wise, as water in the search area was now only shin- to knee-deep.  It was also good that I had received the call early, as there were already two other detectorists in the area when I arrived.  Fortunately, there was no conflict over the places that we were searching.

I set up a search pattern and within about 45 minutes had that magical signal that says ‘gold’.  One scoop and I pulled up George’s ring.  It had taken only one and a half tidal cycles for the ring to be buried 6-8″ deep as the waves shifted sand across the seabed.

I pocketed the ring and continued on searching the area while I waited for George to arrive.  He appeared about a half hour later and we stood on the beach and chatted for a few minutes.  He pointed out the area where he thought the ring was lost (spot- on for the area I’d searched!) and expressed his disappointment about losing the ring and his feeling that it was lost cause that it could ever be found.  We finally got to talking about the ring itself and I asked him to describe it to me.  As he finished his description I palmed the ring from my pocket, opened my hand, and asked, “does it look something like this?”  Needless to say, that next moment is always one of the BEST that one can possibly experience in life – the surprise, disbelief and joy of the recipient, together with the surge of happiness I feel, knowing that I’ve been able to make that happen.

Well, to make a long story short, I took a few pictures to go with this little story and we continued some conversation about life in general, and grandchildren in particular.  It was a beautiful day.

 

Ryan did the right thing when he removed his 3-month old wedding band before he waded in.  The cooling fall water can shrink a finger and make it easy for a ring to slip off.  He left the ring in his hat in the dry sand on the beach, enjoyed the  water, and spent a nice afternoon lounging in the sun with his new bride on this beautiful fall day.  Only when they were ready to leave after several hours did they realize that his ring was no longer in his hat and was nowhere to be found.  They searched on hands and knees through the soft dry sand, but this proved to be fruitless, as is almost always the case in such circumstances.

They did an online search which turned up my RingFinders site, and when I received their call I was able to meet them within about 15 minutes and head to the location where the ring was lost.  It was nearing sunset, but Ryan had a good idea of where the ring should be, and I had to search for only a few minutes before I able to locate it.  I snapped a few pictures and we shared some happy conversation as the sun set.  Another good day for the RingFinders!

 

This was a very special wedding band.  Peter’s great grandfather wore it when he was married in 1917, and it passed down through Peter’s grandfather, and father, to him.  It was inscribed with initials and dates and had been through two World Wars and, now, four marriages.  It went onto Peter’s left ring finger when he was married in 2017, 100 years after his great grandfather tied the knot.  Needless to say, this was a ring that, once lost, needed to be found!

The ring left Peter’s finger when his hand bumped a rock as he was floating down the channel with his young daughter at Woodneck Beach.  He had a good idea of where the ring probably came off and felt certain of the limits where it might be.  He learned of the RingFinders through the Fabulous Falmouth group on Facebook and called me on the evening of the loss.  I met him and his friend Dave the next morning at low tide to do the search.

I covered the prime area thoroughly with no result, and then extended the search in increments beyond the limits of where Peter felt the ring should be.  After two hours with no target it was starting to look pretty discouraging.  But, as is not uncommonly the case, the ring could be farther afield than expected, so I widened the search even more.  Fortunately this soon produced the desired result, and it was accompanied by lots of happy exclamations and smiles as the heirloom ring was returned to Peter’s finger.  I’m really pleased that I was able to recover this unique treasure and to know that it will continue to be held and cherished in the family where it belongs!

 

Details change but the basic story is the same – a loose ring went flying into the water as a ball was thrown.  Anthony was enjoying a Cape Cod vacation with Anisha, his young bride of a little over a month, and friends when disaster struck.  What had been a good time playing in the water suddenly changed to the depressing reality that the precious wedding band so recently installed on Anthony’s finger was gone.  Frantic searching and diving to scour the bottom produced no results (it’s amazing how quickly a ring disappears into the sand!).  The whole incident was observed by onlookers on the beach.  Fortunately one of them was aware of the Ring Finders and suggested that Anisha contact me.  So within a couple hours of the loss I was there with detector in hand and began a search.

Although the area of the loss was fairly well defined, search conditions were less than ideal.  Wind, waves, and, in particular, thick floating and submerged mats of eelgrass and seaweed made it difficult to swing a dectector in a coherent search pattern.  Nonetheless, after 2+ hours I felt that I had covered the area thoroughly at least 3 times, and there was no result.  Sometimes, for no logical reason, a ring simply ‘disappears’ – maybe it was missed by an inch on a swing, maybe it was oriented such that it gave a poor signal as the detector was jerked around in the surf, maybe it sank rapidly into soft sand that was being exercised by the waves, maybe, maybe – who knows?  In any case we were all tired and in the waning light it was time to call it quits.  We were deeply disappointed, but… I told Anthony that all hope was not lost and that I’d be back for another look.  I refused to believe that the ring simply could not be found.

Two days later the conditions were good – light offshore winds, clear water – so I headed to the beach about an hour before low tide.  Again I did a regular search pattern and in about half an hour had Anthony’s ring in my scoop.  It was located a bit outside of the ‘prime’ area but still within the area that I had covered well in my prior search.  Go figure!

Then the part that that I love even more – the call to Anthony & Anisha to tell them that I’d found the ring.  It was too bad that this could not be done in person (they had returned to home in Connecticut), but the exuberant joy on the other end of the connection could not be mistaken and was eminently satisfying.  Arrangements were made to return the ring via their friend’s mother, who travels regularly to Connecticut.  Thus the happy ending of another Ring Finder saga.  And most importantly, congratulations to Anisha and Anthony – may your love and lives be long and blessed.

 

 

Shelby wisely removed her conjoined engagement/wedding rings and put them in her pocket when she and her family went to enjoy some time on the beach.  Unfortunately, when she later slid her hand into her pocket to retrieve the rings, there was only the heart-rending realization that they were gone.  She had stowed her cell phone in the same pocket, and she felt it was very likely that the rings had come out and dropped in the sand at the same time she had pulled out her phone.  Her mother called Falmouth’s Mitchell Bathhouse to seek help, and they informed her about the RingFinders and provided her with my name.  I received a call the next morning and half an hour later met Shelby and her sister at the beach, ready to hear her story and see if I could replace the gloomy faces with happy smiles.

Shelby and her sister showed me the location where the family had been on the previous day, which now included some morning beach goers.  When these folks heard the story of the lost rings they very kindly moved a couple of times to make sure I was able to cover the full area in my search.  I did several beach-parallel swaths, finding a few trash items, but within a half hour or so heard the sweet signal of success and soon Shelby’s rings were in my scoop.  I walked over to her, letting her look into the scoop and remove the rings while I had the great pleasure of watching the joy burst across her face.

As it turns out, the large diamond in the engagement ring had quite a story.  I’ll let Shelby tell the story:

“As I mentioned yesterday, this ring has been in my husband’s family for over 60 years.  The stone was found when his great uncle was on a walk and saw it on the side of the road.  Being a jeweler he took care of it, cleaned it up, and reset it on a band.  The ring stuck with his family passed down to his grandmother, then his mother, and finally to me.  My husband had the stone reset onto a new band working closely with a jeweler to give me something special for me.

I’ve been wearing this ring for 2 years since our wedding and it means everything to me.  There is simply no replacing it.

I’m so grateful that you came out within a half hour of calling and found it as quickly as you did.  I can’t thank you enough.

We jokingly talked afterward that you’re having found the ring and having so many friendly vacationers cheering and clapping was almost better than the engagement itself (haha).  You are truly incredible.

From being found on the side of the road in California and again on Falmouth Heights beach decades later, I’d call this the luckiest ring ever.”

Thank you, Shelby, for the opportunity to be added to saga of this ring!

 

 

 

Liza was playing in the water at a local association beach when she lost a very special ring.   She had moved the ring to a finger where it was not normally worn, and it unfortunately was a loose fit.  When she spun around in the water, the ring went flying into the waves.  The family did an internet search, found the Ring Finders, and called me within a couple hours of the loss.  I collected my gear and met them at the beach about a half hour later.

Liza’s ring was silver and truly unique in design.  It was specially made with an imprint of her dog’s nose (yes, really!) on the raised table of the ring.  This was sure a new one to me, and it obviously was very special to her.  I headed into the water for a search of the area where Liza said she lost the ring, but I soon found myself chin-deep and on my tiptoes.  The tide had risen a couple feet and this obviously was not going to work.  I said I’d come back at low tide 2 days hence, as I had to be out of town the following day.

When I returned on the second day I set up a couple floats and commenced a search pattern of the likely area.  Waves hindered the search but I covered the area in about 2 hours with no result.  I expanded the search and shortly found the ring about 10 feet outside my initial search perimeter.  I made a call and arranged to return the ring to Liza’s grandfather the next day (Liza had returned to home in western Massachusetts).  The ring has now found its way home and there are a lot of happy people (not to mention the dog) all around!

 

 

Labor Day ended on a depressing note for John, who lost his year-old wedding ring in chest-deep water a couple of hundred feet offshore.  I received a call from him in early evening, asking if I was ‘the ring finder’ and if I could search for his ring.  I of course said that I would, but it would have to be the next day as we were entertaining holiday guests.  We met at the beach near low tide the following day and I did a 2-hour search in the area where John felt that he’d lost the ring.  I called a halt as it was getting dark but I told John I’d be back the next day to expand the search area.  On reflection, he thought maybe he’d been somewhat farther south when the ring slipped from his finger, so I planned to work that area when I returned.  After about an hour of searching that area the next day, I got a sweet booming signal that cried out ‘RING’ and soon had John’s hefty wedding band in my scoop.  With a call to John, we agreed to meet at the beach the next morning, and I had the great pleasure of being able to give John his beautiful ring and share in the joy of its return.  Another great day for The Ring Finders!