lost wedding band Tag | Page 22 of 103 | 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!

Ryan’s like-new wedding band.

A happy reunion.

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!