Northland Jewellery Recoveries Tag | Page 7 of 8 | The Ring Finders
Gold Wedding Ring Lost in Sea at Coopers Beach, Doubtless Bay – Found
Handcrafted Titanium Wedding Ring Lost at Ngunguru – Found!
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
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Josh contacted me explaining he had lost his handcrafted titanium wedding ring while swimming in the Ngunguru estuary the previous day.
It had been made by a friend for his wedding and whilst another could be made, it would never be the ‘same’ ring with the same memories.
A couple of local detectorists had been out to try their luck, however by this morning – the second day since loss, it had not yet been reported as found.
With a dawn start helping avoid most of the summer holiday traffic, I made the 130km trip in good time. Arriving about an hour before low water. This gave a small window where the current would allow a water search at slack tide, if needed.
While I waited for Josh to arrive, I thought I may as well get started, so grabbed the detector and headed down onto the mudflats.
My tracking experience enabled me to separate the straight line walkers tracks from the wandering footprints of someone looking for something from the previous day, although a couple of recently dug holes did have me concerned.
I had to assume the ring was still here until proven otherwise, so sorted out the areas of highest probability and started with the most likely area it could be located.
No sense in getting kitted up for a water search if I didn’t need to.
Ten minutes later, I lifted the ring out of the silt from in amongst some loose shells and walked back to the car to text Josh that I had “a present for him” when he got there.
I think there was some disbelief in his eyes that it actually was his ring when I handed it back – There wouldn’t be that many square titanium rings lying around 🙂
Hugs from his mum and handshakes from Josh and they headed off to enjoy the last day or so of their holiday up here.
Two Rings Lost at Whangarei Beach – Found!
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
Had a call from Kim last night, she had lost two white gold wedding rings in the sea at Taiharuru near Whangarei Heads while swimming that morning, one of which was her husbands who had recently passed away and understandably of enormous sentimental attachment.
With the next low tide at 9am, I was fortunate in being able to arrange a later start time at work and so at 4am, I pulled out of the drive and started the two hour drive south to Whangarei to catch the tide.
I met Kims brother in law on site at 6 and he was very helpful in relating the sequence of events.
It was a massive help that someone had the presence of mind at the time to make a cairn of rocks at the high tide line, and also paced how far out Kim was…69 paces east of the cairn – Where a large rock had also been dropped.
Certainly one of the most comprehensive start points I’ve had.
I got set up and paced out from the cairn, down the beach and out into the tide – ending up right at the marker rock.
With the forethought that went into marking the location, the odds had swung hugely in our favour and I started the grid…
An industrial-grade electric fence about 150m away was sending solid pulses through the headphones every second, the novelty of this wore off extremely quickly as it forced me to double check many ‘false hits’ in case it was a ring.
Just over an hour later I got nice metal tone (in between fence pulses) and I fanned the sand away to reveal her husbands ring.
Kims ring wouldn’t be far away.
…And it wasn’t, being located about a metre or so further out.
Both rings now secured, I waded ashore as Kims brother in law phoned her to relay the good news.
It was an emotional moment in town later when I met Kim, handed her the rings and she kissed her husbands wedding ring.
Gave me warm fuzzies for the rest of the day at work.
Video Clip – That Moment all Ring Finders Love – When a Lost Ring is Located.
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Wedding Ring Lost in Whangarei Garden – Found.
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
Wendy posted on her local Whangarei community group asking for a metal detector or help to locate her wedding ring, someone suggested that she contact me.
She had noticed it missing one evening, however she had a fairly good idea of where it may have been lost. Walking her dog that day, the wayward beastie had snatched the lead out of her hand – Or it might have been when she was putting up some garden fencing….?
We headed to where the dog had pulled the lead out of her hand first, as it was in a public area so highest risk of being picked up – As soon as we arrived, I could tell it was probably not there due to a highly manicured lawn, surrounded by pavement and asphalt. It would have been easily seen, or heard if it bounced off the hard surfaces. The lawn had been mown since the loss, so for good measure I checked the pile of clippings – Nothing.
Plan B, head for the garden.
I switched coils on the machine to the tiny 6″ unit in order to get in and around all the undergrowth and started systematically working my way around the garden.
About 3/4 of the way around, tucked just under the fence and under a layer of mulch was Wendys ring, invisible to the eye, and in that location probably unlikely to have been disturbed for many years – if ever.
Trying to Find a Lost Ring led to yet Another Loss! – Time to Call Ringfinders!
Two Rings Lost in Angry Surf – Night Search, Found!
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
Ann-Maree was holidaying at Tauranga Bay Camp near Whangaroa and decided to brave the dumping surf and go for a wade. She underestimated the power of the surges up the beach and was forced to put her hands down into the sand to maintain her balance as the water rushed past her.
She gave up the idea due to the ferocity of the water and returned to the dry sand, that’s when she noticed her two gold rings were missing, one a very sentimental engagement diamond ring from two generations ago.
She asked at the camp office if she could hire a metal detector, they didn’t have one and instead they gave her my contact details – along with a really positive summary of my previous success stories there.
Ann-Maree phoned me at work and explained the situation. Knowing this beach changes with each tide, it eats rings so I headed home to get my kit and was soon on site – Staring at a 2.5m dumping surf break on a very steep beach. Haven’t seen it like that for many years !
The sand was really deep and mobile, but there was no way I was going to risk going into the surf until the tide was further out and it had calmed down a little. I started by gridding the shallows, intending to follow the tide down. Within 10 minutes I had been caught by a sweep and my shorts were soaked…So gave up staying dry after that.
I ran two opposing grids on the 11″ coil, then switched to the 15″ and ran another two, real hard work with the surges grabbing the coil and only netted a token for the camp showers and a few odds and ends of scrap.
The 15″ was taking it’s toll, so with the tide further out, I reverted to the 11″ and wound the settings up so ‘hot’ it would probably pick up the earths core. And started a new set of grids.
After 4Hrs, it was now dark and I was right down on nearly low tide mark now. I got a deep, clean tone. Battling the water and the almost fluid shelly sand, I heaved scoopfuls out of the hole until I had it, pinpointed it with the coil in the diggings, and rapidly placed my foot on it as another surge came past. In with the pinpointer and my fingers found the shape of a ring in the dark.
I marked the spot and headed up to Ann-Marees camper to confirm – Yes! It was one of them, but not the treasured heirloom.
But, I now had a pin in the map! I knew that if I didn’t find the second ring this time around, it would be lost to the beach with the heavy surf. The beach contour had already changed significantly in the time I had been there.
I headed back and started a focussed search in the area. Another brass screw, bit of wire, odd scraps of metal… then deep and quiet, there was something. I wound the volume right up in the headphones to try and hear it over the surf. Has to be it.
Several hasty scoops later and I had the second ring.
Ann-Maree had given hem up for lost.
I refused to.
Gold and Diamond Ring Lost Swimming at Tutukaka 5 Weeks ago – Found.
Wedding Ring Lost at Ocean Beach, Found after Two Months in the Sand
Ring Finder – Ring Recovery Specialist…Lost ring? Lost necklace? Lost keys?… Metal Detector Service – Call ASAP 021 401626
At the end of December, after a day at Ocean Beach near Whangarei, Karen arrived back home to realise she had lost her ring back at the beach.
She had taken it off to apply sunscreen and presumably left it on the towel, and flicked it off when she packed up.
She drove out again to try and find it with her friend who owned a metal detector, but had no luck.
Successive attempts by various people with detectors were also unsuccessful, and she had all but given it up as lost.
As is often the case, it was the sentimental rather than the monetary value that hurt the most.
I was in the Whangarei area to hand over another previously found ring and had come down very early to spend some time at Ocean Beach to see if I could find her lost wedding ring.
Sitting in the carpark just before dawn, I went through her Facebook post again. She had noted several crucial times: When she was at the beach initially, and also when she went back to look and found the tide had covered the spot. Quick flick back to the December tide tables allowed me to work out how far below high tide mark she had been sitting.
She had also had the presence of mind to take photos of landmark alignments which while giving a relatively accurate fix, could equally work against us if a casual detectorist had intentionally sought to pocket it.
A very small white gold ring, lost on a popular surf beach with nearly a two month headstart and an accurate description of the location posted on social media, I wasn’t too optimistic to be honest – but you have to believe it’s there… having that valuable edge of experience to sway the odds in your favour helps.
It was still dark and no moon, but I could see the silhouette of the landmarks against the city glow behind the hills. After a few dry runs to get the best of three guesses as to location, I took the average of the three and started the grid.
Within fifteen minutes, I had the ring in the pouch.
I posted a photo of the ring as a reply to Karens original post, and hoped she would see it before I had to head back north. She did, and several hours later, I met up with Karen and handed her ring back to her.
Two rings handed back in one day – It’s a good feeling.