Washington Tag | The Ring Finders

Ferndale Field of Lost Dreams

  • from Bellingham (Washington, United States)
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Got a call for a lost ring in Ferndale Washington. He was doing yard work and throwing all his debris over a fence into a field spreading it out as he went along. So of course he thought it flew off his finger while flinging plant cuttings. Often a lost item isn’t where you think its is. Unfortunately the only way to rule out the idea is to search. It was a straight forward area of search that turned up nothing. I then will try to recreate the scene and take the client back in time to relive the moment before the obvious to after. Help them walk through it and usually some other locations or ideas will turn up. Unfortunately in this case that did not help either. I kept swinging back to my car and found it in the parking area. Another location where people often lose items. 

Lost Ring in the Water at Lake Whatcom

  • from Bellingham (Washington, United States)
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Today in Bellingham Washington I found a ring for a client who was enjoying our warm weather in the lake. He actually lost two rings and saw them fly off his hand while throwing a football. For those who do not know, when you are in cold water your fingers shrink and it is very easy to lose rings. Especially when making harsh moves like throwing a football. If you have a ring or rings that are already loose, you should remove them before swimming in cold water. Always better safe then sorry! These were lost in about four feet of water. He was able to find one at the moment of loosing them but called me out to find the second. Without too much trouble the second ring was recovered.

Lost Tantalum Wedding Ring Recovered In Edmonds Washington!

  • from Seattle (Washington, United States)

With the great weather we can experience in the summer months, comes yard work! A large number of my ring searches take place in gardens, yards and yard waste bins! And it is definitely the season for lost rings!

Micheal emailed about his Tantalum (I had to google that metal, it was new to me!) ring he had lost in his beautiful front yard garden. He tried to find it to no avail, and needed my services to find it quick, or he was going to be in the “doghouse” with the wife! 🙂

I was able to come by this Saturday and was very glad I was able to find it quickly! It would have been a real difficult search without a detector, but just took moments with one. I was very impressed with the style and metal of this handsome ring and happy to give Michael a positive outcome! If you or someone you know loses a metal item, don’t delay! Call the Ringfinders!

 

Gorgeous Tantalum Ring!

Tantalum wedding ring found!

 

Twinkling In My Eyes! Stunning Diamond Pendant Found In Gig Harbor, Washington! Eyeballed!

  • from Seattle (Washington, United States)

Tuesday I got a voicemail in regards to a lost white gold and diamond pendant in Gig Harbor… It was in a basket of personal items that was in the back of Jennifer’s SUV, and someone forgot to completely latch it! At some point the basket fell out of the car onto a relatively busy country road and spilled all the contents! Including an extremely valuable and sentimentally significant diamond pendant! They exhausted themselves looking but were only able to find the main, larger items on the side of the road. She suspected the pendant had hit the grassy ditch and a metal detector would be the right tool to locate it.

Since I was busy during the week, I had to postpone the search until the weekend, and was hoping no one had found it in the meantime. We met this Friday afternoon and went over the story, pictures and location where it had occurred. Since it was a busy road, we had to be mindful of cars as we walked to the area. I left the metal detectors behind in my truck, planning to retrieve one as soon as the details were all clear… then I’d begin the hunt!

Imagine our surprise and elation when within 2 minutes of arriving on the scene, I SPOTTED THE DIAMONDS TWINKLING IN THE SUN!!! ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!

NO METAL DETECTOR NEEDED!!! One stone was loose but near the pendant and it appeared to be in great shape other than the loose diamond! Another happy ending to a very stressful few days in this families life. Glad I could help, and just a little sorry it was so easy this time 😉

Dazzling diamonds eyeballed!

Super excited to be so lucky!

Smiling Faces!

Platinum and Gold 18k Wedding Ring Found… Sammamish, Washington!

  • from Seattle (Washington, United States)

Yesterday I received a call from a man, who had been digging a culvert to bury some wire going from his house through his backyard. While he was doing the work, he had taken off his wedding ring and put it in his pocket so he wouldn’t damage the ring. At some point in the day, he realized that the ring had fallen out of his pocket, and he was convinced that it had gone in the ditch with the wire, which he had reburied. This presented a real problem for me, as the wire would possibly mask out any signal from the ring if it was in the ditch. I searched along side of the culvert and over it, and occasionally got some signals which could have been the ring, but they always turned out to be the wire buried one foot down! After trying multiple metal detector types, I kept on reaching the same conclusion. If it had fallen in this ditch probably the only way to find it would be to un-bury the wire and start all over again. Likely the ring would be lost forever.

His mood and mine, were beginning to become less hopeful. At some point he mentioned maybe I should search in a completely new area, and I think he was leaning towards the idea of me quitting the search. He said “Why don’t you go and sweep the driveway really fast, I don’t think it would be up there but you never know.” I had basically come close to giving up, since I have been out there for a few hours with no luck. But I went and swept the gravel driveway with my larger coil metal detector.

After a few minutes, he rounded the corner with some money in hand, about to tell me I could go ahead and quit the search. But, when he reached out, I had something in my hand too! I had found the ring! It was barely buried in the gravel driveway. Likely, a car or two had run over it but it was in great shape still!

“You had the right idea! I’m glad you changed it up!” I exclaimed… he was incredulous and the whole family was besides themselves with excitement!

Sometimes it just isn’t where you thought it should be. It took nearly giving up the search, but luckily this hunt had a happy ending!

18K Gold and 950 Platinum Band!

Family happily reunited with lost wedding ring!

Found it!

14k Boomerang Ring Found (Again)! Lost Gold Wedding Band Recovered in Bellevue, Washington!

  • from Seattle (Washington, United States)

Last week I got a request to find a lost gold men’s band in Bellevue, from Mackenzie, on behalf of her husband Tim. Unfortunately I had just started classes at my new job and couldn’t go search until this weekend. I hoped the delay wouldn’t be detrimental to the search, but I had to wait.

Tim had been part of a work party, clearing out vines and ivy at Chism Beach Park in Bellevue, Washington when he realized he was missing the ring. Likely he had taken off his gloves for a break and it came off somewhere he had been working. The ring was a sort of boomerang ring, it has a history of being lost and found multiple times in other situations, so I wanted to keep the streak alive…and find it again!  They had tried to rent a detector and search for it themselves but had no luck this time.

I don’t want to steer anyone from trying this DIY approach, but there is a learning curve with metal detecting, and it can quickly be frustrating to a newcomer. So it is always a good idea to have someone experienced to help if that doesn’t pan out. That’s where I come in!

I was relieved to quickly find the ring and return it to Mackenzie, since Tim is currently travelling. I hope to be able to post a pic of Tim reunited with it soon!

Dug up! Hiding in the leaves!

Reunited!

Sapphire & Diamonds 18k White Gold Wedding Ring Found Near Coal Creek… Bellevue, WA!!!

  • from Seattle (Washington, United States)

Diamonds and sapphires in white gold!

I got a call from Randy who lost his ring sometime last month while driving to a jobsite. Apparently he had removed his ring and put it into a cup (with some liquid) in his console. Sometime later, he forgot it was in there and he tossed the contents out the window as he was driving around the bend to one of his worksites!!!

Luckily Randy remembered seeing a Ringfinders Facebook post that featured my previous find and looked me up! He remembered the turn on the road and gave me a general area to look for his ring.

I searched the side of the road for some time… After gridding the area he pointed out, I extended my search area. He was close in proximity but it was a bit further than he remembered. I found it! A beautiful white gold ring with some really cool sapphires and diamonds!

Roadside Recovery!

Found in Crawlspace of Seattle, WA! Lost Gold & Diamond Engagement Ring!

  • from Seattle (Washington, United States)

This afternoon I received an email from a Hawthorne Hills couple who had lost a ring over the weekend. While fidgeting with one of her rings on the back deck, the ring slipped out of her hand and they heard it hit the deck and roll! The deck was on a steep incline with lots of landscaped features and shrubbery around it, all very viable and hard to find places it could have landed. They searched for a while before realizing what they needed was a metal detector… or even better, a Ringfinder!

After a phone conversation where I got the details I needed to plan my attack, I gathered up my gear. I made it there soon thereafter and started to hunt the landscaped hillside. After striking out around the perimeter, the grim possibility that it slipped through the cracks of the deck was growing. The heat was stifling, and my summer attire of flipflops and shorts was not the best choice of armor to battle man-eating spiders and other scary things (alive or dead) in the cramped dark area under the deck! But once I had exhausted the other possibilities, it was time…for THE CRAWLSPACE!

Needless to say, it was cramped under there. I had to belly crawl around and I methodically swept the area with my detector. Turning around was nearly impossible, and I was hoping to end this hunt quick! Luckily, after some time, SUCCESS! The ring was found and I quickly escaped the creepycrawlers! After celebrating with the owners, I hastily drove home for a “Silkwood shower”!

Ringfinder-1  Spiders-0!

CRAWLSPACE!

Diamond & Gold Ring FOUND!

Ring reunion smiles!

Found it!

Lost Gold Nugget & Diamond Wedding Ring found in Tolt River, Carnation Washington!

  • from Seattle (Washington, United States)

Distraught Paul looks on as I hunt deeper…

“Difficult ring search in swift current of Tolt River leads to family heirloom reunited with its owner!”

Yesterday night I got a text from newlyweds Trisha & Paul regarding Paul’s lost wedding ring. They had been spending the day floating around in Tolt River, very close to where it merges with the Snoqualmie River in Carnation, WA.

At some point, Pauls’s new (to him) wedding ring slipped off in the strong current in chest high waters. The ring was his father’s and was a one of a kind gold nugget & 14k band with a diamond! Needless to say, they were distraught and searched until they were exhausted. Thankfully, they somehow found me online, texted me and we set up a meeting for Sunday morning.

I arrived, geared up in my fishing waders and chose one of my waterproof detectors for the hunt. We hiked from the parking lot for about 10 minutes, crossing the winding river in at least 2 locations. Hiking isn’t easy in waders! Once we arrived in the area, I began detecting the perimeter, testing the depth and current. It was very difficult detecting in such strong moving water, and I was doing all I could not to end up soaked! Once I got the hang of it, I began gridding and was coming up with no targets, aside from a bottle cap and a rock containing natural iron deposits.

I was getting tired and needed a break after about an hour of exhausting searching, but I decided to give it a little more, further down stream. I speculated that how fast the water was moving.. maybe the current pushed the ring further, as it fell, than they thought…

Some time later, I got a hit and had to move some good size rocks with my scoop, but could see a faint, ring-sized glimmer on the bottom! Minutes later, it was in my scoop and Paul & Trisha were very emotional as I told them I had done it! I have to admit, I felt emotional too… this was a hard hunt and it was exhausting to fight the current as long as I did. Especially since I was fighting a head cold!

We all celebrated on our hike back to the parking lot, and the newlyweds were super thankful they found me. I’m really glad they found me too! 😉

“This is the ring you are looking for!”

Gold Nugget & Diamond Family Heirloom Wedding Ring!

 

Upset newlyweds happy again! Ring recovered!

 

Lost Platinum & Diamond Earring Found In Woodinville, WA!

  • from Seattle (Washington, United States)

“Undetectable” Diamond & Platinum Earring Recovered… Just Barely!

Today’s recovery was for a lady who lost her impressive diamond stud earring while staining her deck a few days ago. She at some point took off her dust mask which probably caught her earring and flung it off into the unknown! She noticed the back landed in between the boards, and then realized her loss.

After her and her husband scoured the yard, and squeezed under the deck to look for it, they tried renting a metal detector. They found out quickly, though, stud earrings are very hard to detect because they contain so little actual metal. In fact, their rental unit could not even detect it when they passed it over the 2nd earring.

I had confidence that at least one of my machines should be able to outperform this rental unit and headed out with all 3. After testing on the other earring, I was pretty surprised to find my 2 most expensive detectors would not detect this target!

My least expensive unit did, but just a barely audible sound would come through, and only occasionally. I started getting pretty nervous that this hunt would be unsuccessful.

To make matters worse, the lawn area around the deck was littered with nails from the sloppy contractor who built it. I was getting a pretty sinking feeling, but I was determined to at least try. Many nails were pulled out of the ground, so I could concentrate on the whisper that the earring MIGHT give me.

Somehow, someway, I managed to pass over a quiet target and it was the earring! We were both so amazed and relieved, and glad that I have a few types of machines in my arsenal!

So little metal to detect!

NEARLY Undetectable Platinum & Diamond Stud! Slightly dirty but undamaged!

AT Pro saves the day!

Diamond pair reunited!