Lost Gold/Diamond Signet Ring Morrison Park Putney
July 14th, 2010 by Brad Lovell
Tracey called me with the sad news that she lost 2 rings. One she managed to find in her handbag, but the other ring which had been handed down from her late grandmother was still missing. She had spent the day at Morrison Park soccer oval, and had been sitting in various spots. Tracey wasn’t 100% sure if this was indeed where she lost the ring, but wanted me to have a look anyway. Unfortunately afters spending over 3 hours searching the oval, I came up empty handed. Please, if anyone does happen to find a gold/diamond signet ring at Morrison Park at Putney, please contact me. Tracey is offering a reward for its return.
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- Posted in Lost Rings, Not Recovered
Hi everyone, I appreciate your emails and curiosity in regards to Lara Bingle’s lost $200,000 engagement ring, but I am not the person searching for it. My understanding, which is only what I have read in the media (usually 99% fantasy and 1% truth)…is the engagement ring was flushed down a toilet. I am not a plumber, and a metal detector is not going to work inside a house with metal pipes and electrical interference. Once again, sorry to disappoint but I know nothing about Lara Bingles lost diamond engagement ring. Please don’t bother sending in any further emails in regards to this as I am not involved in any way.
A few days back I received a call from Anthony, who’s wife Myer had managed to lose her engagement ring somewhere at Balmoral Beach. Myer removed the ring to apply suncream, and at some point the ring has fallen in the sand. A passer by noticed the distressed couple searching for the ring and found my website on his iPhone. An hour later I was down at Balmoral Beach about to search for Myer’s lost diamond engagement ring. The couple had been sitting in 2 locations throughout the day, and remembered the path that they walked which was a good thing. We started the search in the position they had spent most of the time sitting, and both Myer and Anthony had a feeling it was in this area. After Anthony circled off a search area in the sand, I began detecting and digging any and every signal. After digging a few old bottle caps, and a 5 cent coin I received a very faint crackly signal. I have learned not to ignore these signals anymore as thin gold engagement rings can do this. When digging up diamond rings in dry sand, I do not use a scoop encase it knocks out the diamond. So I pushed my pinpointing device into the sand until I was right above the signal. After pushing some sand away I knew right away I had found Myer’s engagement ring. It doesn’t matter how many times I recover a lost ring, the feeling you get when you see a beautiful diamond ring sparkling in your hand is a great feeling. And it feels even better when you return the ring to the owner and see the smile on their face. Anthony and Myer, it was a pleasure meeting you guys 
Today I received a phone call from Naomi who managed to lose both her wedding ring and engagement ring on a harbour side beach called Red Leaf at Double Bay. Trying to do the right thing, Naomi put both her rings in the pocket of her skirt before going for a swim. When she was leaving for the day, Naomi picked up her towel and skirt and began walking home. After walking only 10-20 meters Naomi remembered the rings in her skirt pocket, and decided to put them back on her finger. After reaching into the pocket, there we’re no rings to be found. When I arrived, Naomi and her friend showed me the area they had been sitting, which was actually a baren looking grass area. If the rings we’re there, we would have been able to see them with our eyes. So I went down to the sandy area where Naomi first realised the rings we’re missing. After about a half hour search, I found Naomi’s engagement ring hiding in the sand. But after searching the rest of the area, I was not able to find the wedding ring. I did a search in the grass area she had been sitting, but no luck there either. I decided to do one last search of the sand 
area, digging all signals including crackling and null tones that normally mean rubbish. One of these crackling signals turned out to be Naomi’s wedding ring. In the hundreds of rings I have found over the past couple of years, this is the first time this has happened. This is a learning experience for me, and will be embedded in my mind next time I am searching for a thin gold ladies ring. Either way, it felt good to return both rings to their rightful owner…
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 
On Sunday afternoon I received a call from Denise. Denise was having a bad day…not only did she manage to lose her wedding ring, but her engagement ring too! I felt really bad for Denise, and told her I would be on my way to the reserve the rings we’re lost after dinner. Denise’s husband Daniel was still at the park searching the area with a torch. When I called Daniel to see how he was going, I heard the beeping of a metal detector. Someone had kindly loaned Daniel a Metal Detector when they saw him searching frantically for the lost rings. I arrived at the park not long after, and Daniel showed me the area they had been sitting earlier that day. Denise had picked up her young kids, and taken them to the toilet block which was about a 50 plus meter walk from the picnic area they we’re located. It was a possibility the rings fell off while Denise was carrying the kids. I began my slow grid search from the toilet block back towards the area they had been sitting. Halfway through my search, Daniel returned the loan Metal Detector and the globe in his torch broke. Feeling worn out from many hours of searching, Daniel went home while I continued searching. After about 3 hours of slowly grid searching the area, I had finally made it back to the area Denise had been sitting that day. I must admit, I had given up hope by now. What grass was left in the area was not very thick, and the chances of someone eyeballing two gold rings on the ground was very probable. A reflection from my LED headlamp in the distance led me to a tree close by. The reflection turned out to be coming from what looked like a small diamond, but with no ring attached to it. I wondered in my mind if this was a part of Denise’s engagement ring? I decided to search the surrounding area… and to my surprise, after a nice solid signal I looked down with my light and there we’re two gold rings lying next to each other. I picked up the rings and noticed no Diamonds we’re missing from Denise’s engagement ring. It was just coincidence that I found the other diamond, which turned out to be a good thing as it led me to the area Denise’s rings we’re dropped. Although it was getting close to midnight, I decided to give Daniel a call. I am sure he and Denise would sleep better knowing I had found the rings. Denise and Daniel we’re incredibly happy to hear the great news, and I am meeting with Daniel tomorrow to return the rings 
Brent and his Fiance Kristy we’re enjoying a beautiful day at Manly beach on Sunday morning. Kristy removed her diamond engagement ring while she applied sunscreen. Around the same time, the life guards asked Brent and Kristy to move positions as the Nippers we’re about to start their events in the sand. Kristy had rested the engagement ring on her leg, and was totally sidetracked when being asked to move location. It wasn’t until about an hour later Kristy realised she had lost the ring. To make matters worse, the nippers we’re running up and down the area Kristy and Brent we’re sitting. So it was difficult for them to search the area, and the Nippers could have been pushing the ring deeper into the sand. By the time I arrived at the beach, the Nippers had finished up…and Brent did a great job to try and keep the area clear for me to do my search. And anyone familiar with Manly beach on a hot summer weekend will appreciate this is quite a task! Brent showed me the area they had been sitting earlier on that morning, and I began my grid search. After my run of bad luck lately, I was more determined than ever to find Kristy’s lost ring. After about 15 minutes of a very slow grid search, I received a first signal. The signal was very similar to that of a 10 cent coin, but I also know that gold registers a similar signal. I began combing the sand with my hands and exposed what looked like a thousand shining diamonds 
After a quick phone call from Melanie, I was on my way to Sydney Park at St Peters (Inner West of Sydney). Melanie had been playing around in the park and decided to put her wedding and engagement ring in her pocket for safe keeping. After she had finished her activities, she reached into her pockets only to find both rings we’re missing. I mentioned to Melanie I would hop in the car and meet her at the park ASAP. Two rings sitting in the grass of a busy park would get picked up in no time. About 30 minutes later I arrived at the park and met Melanie and her husband. Melanie mentioned to me she had both good and bad news. The good news being her husband found the rings in the grass with a flash light. And the bad news being I had driven out there for no reason hehe. Melanie and her husband obviously felt bad that I had driven out there on a Sunday night, and offered me more money than my regular call out fee. I could not accept the extra money as I was not the one who found the rings. My primary concern was that Melanie had her rings back on her finger. I told Melanie and her husband there is no reason to feel bad. This has happened many times before, and is just a part of the job I love 
