June 25th, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Jenny had this misfortune of losing her Omega Dive watch while swimming at Manly Beach. This was a situation where Jenny entered the water with her watch on, and left the water with it off. She was not sure exactly where the watch had fallen, but spent most of her time in the area plotted in the photo above. I spent over two hours scanning the area with my water detector, but I had no luck in locating Jenny’s watch. If anyone has happened to pickup an Omega watch similar to the on pictured, please contact me so I can put you in touch with Jenny. Jenny has offered a generous reward for its return.

March 21st, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Last night I received a phone call from Alex. He had been playing volley ball the previous day at Manly Beach, and lost his wedding ring while diving for the ball. Knowing Manly beach is constantly hunted by other metal detector guys, I told Alex I would finish my dinner and head straight out there. Alex showed me the area he had been playing volley ball, and the direction he believed the ring to fall. We squared off a search area with a large safety  buffer, and began the search. After an hour of slowly covering an extended area I was starting to worry. But there was one positive sign, I was getting lots of targets including coins…which is an indication that the area has not already been hunted out by another metal detector man (or lady). It was time to begin searching the other side of the volley ball area. Although Alex did not beleive the ring was dropped in this area, you just never know where rings can end up. After about 5 minutes of searching the new area, I got a nice strong signal which would normally indicate a 50 cent coin. This signal can also indicate a large gold ring. After locating the target with my pinpointer, I caught a glimpse of gold between the sand. This glimpse of gold was indeed a gold wedding ring. I handed the ring to Alex who right away said that was his wedding ring. After a quick text message to his wife, I took this photo of a relieved Alex and the ring with my iPhone.

March 2nd, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Alex had this misfortune of dropping his wedding ring on the decking of the Manly Yacht Club. Somehow by sheer chance, the wedding ring managed to fall down a small crack between the wood decking, and into the water below. Alex mentioned that at the time the ring dropped, it was high tide and about 5 ft deep. I met Alex at low tide, and he showed me exactly where the ring had dropped through the crack. I figured this would be an easy 5 minute job, but as it turns out I would be very wrong. The area where Alex’s wedding ring had dropped, just happened to be an underwater junk yard! There was so much metal in area the ring dropped that trying to use the metal detector become frustrating. My only option was to start digging every signal, even signals I knew we’re not platinum. I just needed to get this junk metal out of the way. After close to two hours of digging I was exhausted. I had removed a huge amount of metal, but none of this metal happened to be the precious metal Platinum. Being frustrated, and knowing the ring had to be close by, I mentioned to Alex I would attempt a second search free of charge. This time I came with more man power, Tony from Jewellery Rescue. Both myself and Tony spend another 2 hours digging without any luck. If any other metal detector guys happen to find a Platinum wedding ring under the Manly Yacht Club, please contact me. Alex is happy to pay a reward.

February 13th, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Derek had this misfortune of losing his wedding ring while in a swimming event at Shelly Beach Manly. Apparently there was up to 4000 people in this event, so things we’re very hectic at the start of the race when Derek felt his wedding ring get knocked off his finger. A few days later Derek gave me a call asking if there is anything I can do to help? He believed he was in about chest deep water when the ring fell, but this was at low tide. I mentioned to him that rings lost in water are always difficult to find, but I was more than happy to give it my best shot. I grabbed my scuba gear and underwater metal detector and met Derek at Shelly Beach. It was a beautiful summer day, and the water was clear and calm which made the job enjoyable. After 3 hours of scanning the area Derek felt the ring might be, we had no luck locating his ring. I was able to find 3 other rings, and Derek eyeballed a gold wedding band just sitting at the bottom of the water. So we ended up with 4 rings in total, just not the correct ring If you believe you are the owner of the rings in the photo above, please contact me as I would love to return these to their rightful owners. If anyone does happen to find a plain white gold wedding band at Shelly Beach, please contact me.

December 14th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

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 By this time, most of the people in the surrounding area knew I was searching for Kristy’s engagement ring. After a hug from Kristy, surprisingly other people who we’re watching me came up to congratulate me. Brent was putting more money in the parking meter when I found the ring, so he got a nice surprise when he arrived back. I want to thank Brent and Kristy for their honesty. They had no money on them at the time, and true to their word, they transferred a reward direct to my bank account. Was a pleasure to meet you guys!

December 7th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Sunday afternoon I received a call from Steve. His fiance had lost her diamond engagement ring earlier on in the day at Manly beach. She removed the ring to apply suncream, and lost track of its where abouts from there. I arrived at Manly beach a couple of hours later and began my hunt for the lost ring. As always, it is difficult to remember where you we’re sitting at a beach. Especially when the life guards are constantly moving flags and signs. Steve and his relatives put me in a position they believed to be sitting earlier on in the day. I began a very slow grid search of the area, but no luck in locating the ring. After about 2 hours of searching and extending the search perimeter, I finally found the beautiful white gold diamond ring. I received lots of handshakes and hugs from Steve and his family. I really love my job!

November 20th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I received a voice message from Jo who lost her wedding ring somewhere in her backyard. She had wet hands at the time, and when she flicked her hands the ring went flying off her finger and into the night. The next morning Jo and her sons tried searching for the ring. The ring happened to be a Georg Jensen two piece ring. Jo managed to find one half of the ring in the swimming pool, but unfortunately the other half of the ring remained elusive. As always, I mentioned to Jo I would be happy to help her find the lost ring (well half of it)… I arrived at Jo’s house and she pointed me in the direction of where the ring had fallen off. Before I even had the chance to start the search, Jo spotted the ring sitting on top of the Spa Bath cover. Jo felt rather embarrassed about the whole situation and apologised profusely for waisting my time. I let her know it was not a problem, and this is not the first and last time this will happen. It is just the nature of the job, and at the end of the day the most important thing is the ring is no longer lost Although it was breif, it was a pleasure meeting you Jo.

October 21st, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I received an email last week titled Lost Ring. The email was from Marty who lost his mothers wedding ring at Manly Beach. I did not read Marty’s email until around 3am, but asked him to contact me as soon as he was awake. Manly beach is a very busy and popular beach, meaning there are lots of other metal detectorists hitting the beach each day. Next morning at around 9am Marty called requesting my services. I quickly packed my gear and drove down to Manly beach which is only about a 20 minute drive away. Marty showed me the area he was sitting on the beach, and I started my slow and steady grid search. The first signal I received sounded nice and loud, but turned out to be a ring pull from an aluminium can. Then another ring pull…then about 5 minutes later, a gold wedding band I want to thank Marty for a generous reward for what turned out to be a quick and easy job.

March 7th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I went for a treasure hunt a few nights ago with my friend Matt. We managed to dig up many different things including two sets of keys, a mobile phone, a Disney pendant, two lead weights, lots of coins including an old penny, and two rings. Matt is already working on finding the owner of the lost mobile phone and keys, so now it is my turn to find the lost owners of the two rings. One is a ladies silver ring (as pictured), and the other is a men’s gold wedding band. If you have lost a ring at Shelly beach near Manly, and they look like the the photo above..please contact me. If you are able to describe the engravings or prove the ring is yours, I will happily return it