March 21st, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Last Friday I was called out to St Ives (North of Sydney) to help Sue search for her lost wedding and engagement rings. Sue had felt the rings slip off her finger while she was throwing an exercise ball at a local park. Sue and her personal training group all tried searching for the rings, but the thick grass had made recovery impossible without the use of a metal detector. A few hours after Sue contacting me, we met up in the park to begin searching for the lost rings. It only took 2 or 3 swings of the metal detector before I received my first target. The detector gave off a reading similar to a piece of foil.. but as most experience detectorist’s will know, this is indeed the signature of the precious metal platinum. After parting the grass, I spotted Sue’s diamond engagement ring.  I plucked the ring out of the grass and handed it over to a now very happy Sue, and continued the search for the wedding band. Surprisingly,  both rings we’re not in the same spot.. with the wedding band being a couple of meters away. Both rings had now been returned to their rightful owner Sue, it was nice to meet yourself and little boy. Also thank you kindly for a reward, even though this turned out to be a quick job.

January 23rd, 2010 by Brad Lovell

On Wednesday I received a phone call from Layne who managed to get my phone number from the Manly Police. Layne had noticed her engagement ring missing after playing and throwing a ball in waist deep water at Apple Bay (right near Taronga Zoo). I packed my gear and drove down to the spot Layne described over the phone. Unfortunately the tide was high, and my underwater metal detector was playing up. I searched the dry/wet sand with no luck. I mentioned to Layne I would go back and try again at low tide on Friday afternoon. Thankfully she met me there, as it turned out I was searching the wrong spot on my first attempt. When meeting up with Layne, my cousin Nick who was there to help with the search recognised right away that the lady we we’re about to help was in fact World Surfing Champion Layne Beachley. I felt a bit stupid not knowing about an Australian surfing legend, and felt even more stupid when people on the beach we’re asking for a photo with Layne. Any how, we had a job to do…while Nick and Layne we’re snorkling the shallow waters looking for a glint of gold, I was carefully detecting the sand and shallow water in a slow North-South pattern. Since Layne did not feel when or where the engagement ring fell off, I honestly thought there was little chance of recovery. But after an hour of searching and digging up some rusty coins, I managed to pull a solid ring out of the sand. At first I figured it was a wedding band, but after eyeballing a nice sparkling diamond I was hoping that this was the right ring. After showing Layne the ring and seeing the smile on her face, I knew I had the right one We had a bit of a crowd gathering (including a wedding party) who congratulated me on finding the engagement ring. After a series of unsuccessful recoveries, it finally felt good to reunite a sentimental ring with its rightful owner. I want to thank my cousin (little Nicky) for helping out. Also it was very cool meeting Layne who was incredibly grateful for the service we had provided. I only had my iPhone available to take a photo of Layne with her engagement ring (which doesn’t do it justice), hopefully she will send a better photo of the ring soon. *Update* here is the photo, thanks Layne!

March 19th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I received a phone call from Rick last week. Rick was doing some work on the back of his boat. As he was throwing rubbish from his boat to his dingy, Rick watched helplessly as his gold bracelet fell off his wrist and went flying through the air, and into the water. Unfortunately this bracelet was very special to Rick. It was a gift from his wife over 33 years ago. And Rick also mentioned to me that he had planned on passing the gold bracelet down to his grand son, who seemed to love playing with the bracelet. The bracelet was lost in about 2-3 meters of water, so unfortunately I was unable to help out. But, Rick had already organised a diver, Josh. Josh attempted searching for the lost bracelet without the help of a metal detector. The water where the gold bracelet fell, was very murky, with a mud bottom. Josh had no luck finding the bracelet, and mentioned to Rick that he really needs the help of a metal detector. After a quick search on google for an underwater metal detector, Rick found my website. I met Rick and Josh down at Woodford Bay with my equipment, a beautiful spot near Greenwich and Lane Cove on Sydney’s North Shore. Josh did not have experience with metal detecting, but he is an expert diver. After a quick metal detecting lesson, Josh was under water, searching for Rick’s lost bracelet. After a good 3 hour search, Josh came up empty handed. I still had one plan up my sleeve. My scuba diving friend Matt was available on the weekend, and willing to head down to Woodford bay in an attempt to find Rick’s gold bracelet. Matt is still learning the art of metal detecting, which is actually a lot more complex than one would think. Finding a signal is easy, but digging up what is causing that signal 3 meters under water, with zero visibility is not an easy feat. I was unable to meet Matt and Rick on the weekend, so Matt picked up my metal detecting gear and gave it his best. I am not sure how long the hunt lasted, but unfortunately Matt was unable to find Rick’s bracelet either. So after 3 attempts, the gold bracelet still sits at the bottom of Woodford Bay. I really feel for Rick, who desperately wanted his Bracelet back on his wrist. But I am sure Rick feels a sense of closure knowing he did everything physically possible to retrieve the lost bracelet. I have not given up on Ricks bracelet yet. When I am unable to find a customers lost item, I return in my spare time to continue the search. I am hoping to get back down to Woodford Bay some time in the future to continue searching for Rick’s Gold Bracelet.

January 30th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I received a message from Louise requesting my services in the southern suburbs of Sydney to search for her lost ring. The ring was lost at a quiet beach named Sandingham Bay the day before. I explained to Louise I would be happy to help, but made her aware of the $50 Call Out Fee, as Sandingham Bay is well beyond 20kms from the CBD. I really hate asking for a Call Out Fee, especially if I do not find the lost item in question…but I really need to cover myself for two hours worth of driving/tolls and petrol. In reality, this is incredibly cheap in comparison to what a plumber would charge for an out call! Plus for the $50, I will also search for 2 hours plus. The lost ring was very important to Louise, so the call out fee was not an issue for her. The ring was a gift from a close friend, who brought it back from Thailand for Louise. I made it down to Sandingham Bay before 8am. The beach was empty, with the exception of a few fishermen. Louise was running a little late, so I decided to start scanning the beach anyway. Not long after, Louise arrived and showed me the area where she lost her ring. Apparently Louise had removed her ring before going for a swim, and left it on her towel. When she decided to leave for the day, she forgot the ring was on the towel. A very common mistake. Obviously, the ring had fallen in the sand as she picked up her towel. Both Louise and her boyfriend tried searching for the lost ring to no avail. I marked off an area where I beleived the ring could have dropped, and began the search. After about an hour of searching, I had found plenty of fishing sinkers and bottle caps, but no ring! I had searched the area in a grid pattern, so I knew if the ring was in that area, I would find it! It was time to expand the search perimeter. I began searching further away from the spot where Louise had lost the ring. After about an another half an hour of scanning and digging, I received a nice strong signal on my Metal Detector. One quick scoop, and there it was. Louise’s beautiful lost ring. The ring was a good 20-30 meters away from the area it was actually lost. As I was walking back towards Louise, I could see the look of dissapointment on her face. She figured I was giving up on the search. I asked her if this was the ring she lost, and she instantly jumped up with a huge smile on her face. Louise gave me a customary hug, and put the ring back on her finger. Louise did not have much hope of seeing her lost ring again, so you can only imagine how she must have felt to have it back on her finger. It was a pleasure to help such a beautiful and friendly girl find her lost ring