March 2nd, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Last week I was called out to Waroonga, a beautiful suburb about 50 minutes north of Sydney. Belinda had noticed both her wedding and engagement rings missing, and was told by her daughter that her one and a half year old toddler was last seen playing with the rings in the front yard. After an extensive search for the rings, Belinda decided it was time to call me in for the job. Belinda was in the process of having her yards excavated so I needed to find these rings before they we’re lost forever. Both Belinda and her daughter pointed me to the area that little Jack was last seen playing with the rings. After beginning my search in the obvious areas, I decided to grid search the entire front yard to no avail. This was confusing, how far could a 18 month year old boy throw two rings? I asked Belinda if I could check the backyard, which was half excavated. After about 10 minutes of searching the backyard, I recieved a signal with the metal detector within inches of where old grass had been dug out, and new soil laid. I couldn’t believe it, it was Belinda’s wedding ring. As I bent down to pick it out of the dirt, I eye balled the diamond engagement ring hiding not far beside it. Both the rings we’re sitting withing inches of where the bulldozer had stopped digging. This was definitely Belinder’s lucky day! As you can see by the smile in the photos, Belinda was incredibly happy and relieved to have her sentimental rings back on her finger. Belinda, thank you so much for your honesty and kind reward! It was also nice meeting yourself, kids and Fudge the Labrador

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.

January 31st, 2010 by Brad Lovell

The last handful of jobs have proved to be very challenging. It is always sad for both me and my customer when I am unable to find their lost items.. below are some searches that we’re unsuccessful

• Sarah lost her engagement ring at Bondi Beach. She felt her ring come off in about chest deep water. I mentioned to Sarah my underwater detector is currently away for repairs, and perhaps asking one of the underwater metal detecting guys at Bondi Beach for help. (Bondi Beach is being detected almost 24 hours a day) Sarah contacted Tony from Jewllery Rescue who faced the same problem as me, no underwater detector. I ended up driving to Miners Den at Parramatta and hiring an Excalibur 800 water proof metal detector. We met at Bondi Beach that night in the low tide. There was a fierce electrical storm happening so the beach was almost empty. I spent about 1.5 hours searching the area Sarah had been swimming. After digging up the usual coins and pull tabs while getting smashed by the surf, Tony attempted to brave the night sea. After more searching and having the earphones removed from his head by waves time after time, Tony too gave up after giving it his best. Sarah’s ring is lost in a difficult position, too deep for up right detecting, and too rough for scuba diving. The ring is a mens gold signet with the letters “ACK” engraved.
• Paula lost her diamond engagement ring at a lagoon at Narrabeen. So far I have made two attempts searching for this ring. First time it didn’t take long at all to realise I needed to use scuba gear. Second time I came back with Scuba Gear and my hired detector. The hired detector stopped working so I scanned the bottom just using my pinpointer and eye sight. I plan on going back to search for Paula’s engagement ring once I get my metal detector back from repairs.
• Amanda lost a ring that was a gift from her boyfriend while fishing near Richmond. She felt that the ring may have fallen off as she cast her fishing rod. She did say she heard a strange splash and was not sure what it was. We could not decide if this could have been her ring as her hand would have been clenched around the rod when casting. I searched the water anyway, but unfortunately came up empty handed.
• Joey lost her engagement ring at a beach near the Bouddi Bouddi national park on Australia Day. She had spent the day playing cricket on the sand, and swimming in the water. At the end of the day she realised her ring was no longer on her finger. I searched the sand where they had been playing cricket, then hopped in the water at low tide trying to find her engagement. After many hours of trying, we gave up hope of finding Joey’s lost ring.
• After reading the story in media regarding me finding Layne Beachley’s lost engagement ring, Linda decided to give me a call to see if I could help her. Linda actually lost her gold ring over a year ago, possibly while gardening in her backyard. She and her husband hired a metal detector but did not manage to find anything. I drove up to Avalon to meet Linda, and basically searched her entire backyard for the ring. I did manage to find a lot of things, but her gold ring was not one of them

January 7th, 2010 by Brad Lovell

After an unsuccessful search for two wedding rings at Whale Beach, my confidence was at an all time low. Being the stubborn person I am, I take each and every job personally…and when I can’t recover the lost item for my customer I feel like I have let them down. Earlier on in the day I had received a phone call from Kylie. Kylie managed to lose both her wedding and engagement ring in knee deep water at Umina Beach (near Gosford on the central coast). So with my tail between my legs, I drove north towards Gosford. By the time I arrived at Umina Beach it was around 9:30pm, well and truly dark. I eventually found Kylie and her husband searching the beach for the rings. I had Kylie mark off a large area in the sand and mentioned to her I would search between these two marks and into the water. Without waisting any time, I began a slow tedious north-south search with my underwater metal detector. About an hour went by and things we’re not looking promising. But the one positive aspect of this search was the beach was very clean. The only signals I had received in over an hour we’re 20c coins. Not one piece of rubbish. Getting close to two hours of searching, I was getting close to completing the search in the area Kylie had marked. Had she put me in the wrong spot? Had the rings been washed away? Many thoughts we’re going through my mind, but I was determined to redeem myself after an unsuccessful day at Whale Beach. Not long after, I received a loud blast through my earphones. I gently pushed the scoop into the sand, and recovered the target. That target happened to be Kylie’s gold diamond engagement ring. Kylie was jumping up and down for joy, hugging both myself and her husband. My job was not over yet, I still had to find the wedding ring. About one swing of the metal detector from the where the engagement ring was, I managed to recover Kylie’s wedding ring as well. This was a great end to a not so great day. I want to thank Kylie and her husband for being patient with me, and for a generous reward

December 22nd, 2009 by Brad Lovell

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

July 3rd, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Yesterday I was called out to help David find his lost Platinum Wedding Ring. David was exercising in an area of grass close to the Sydney CBD. He was not aware of the exact moment the wedding ring slipped off his finger, but figured it could have happened when he was removing boxing gloves. When something is lost in a public accessible area, the quicker I get there the higher probability I have of recovery. After a short drive across the Harbour Bridge, I picked up David in the City and he directed me to the area he was exercising. Just as I was beginning to grid search the area, David had already beat me to it. He found the ring hiding in grass not very far from the area I was about to search. As one could imagine, David was a happy man. It was a pleasure meeting you David, and thank you kindly for a generous reward even though I was not the one who found your wedding ring

June 2nd, 2009 by Brad Lovell

The weather has been horrible here in Sydney for the past 2 weeks, which has resulted in a reduction of call outs. This is both good and bad…bad for my business, but good for my hobby. It has given me the chance to go out on a recreational treasure hunt. Myself and Tony from Metal Detector Services managed to have a good hunt at Maroubra Beach. The beach had been ravaged by the storms, with much of the sand blown up against the beach wall. The removed layers of sand gave our metal detectors the opportunity to reach deeper areas than normal. This resulted in us finding many lost rings. Some that looked like they had been lost for a very long time. We must have pulled close to 20 rings out in total. I have attached a photo of the 11 rings I found on the second day of hunting. If you have lost a ring at Maroubra beach in the past, and you have a photo of it..please send it to me and I will see if myself or Tony have found it.

March 9th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I went for a treasure hunt the other day at Brighton-Le-Sands beach, just south of Sydney Airport. Since starting this website, and offering my services to the public, I do not get out as much as I would like. It happened to be a cloudy day, and the beach was almost empty. The tide was extremely low due to the full moon, so I decided to see what treasures lie beneath the water. I managed to dig up two very strange rings in the one scoop. When I first saw the Rings in the scoop, I thought they we’re pieces of metal that a bolt would screw into. I was almost about to put them in the junk pile when I noticed what looked like a small diamond on one side of this strange square shaped object. After a closer look, I noticed an engraved hallmark on the inside of the ring. These Rings must have been under water for some time, as they had turned a copper like colour. After taking them home, and cleaning them up…they are looking a lot better. Because they are very unique rings, so I am hoping some day I will reunite them with their right full owner. If you believe these are your lost square rings, and can identify the engravings..or even have a photo wearing the rings, please contact me. It would be an honour to return these very unique rings.

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

February 13th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I received a desperate phone call from Maxine, who lost 2 gold rings off her finger at the same time. To make matters worse, the rings we’re handed down to her by her grandmother who had passed away 6 months earlier. And to make matters worse again still, it was her passed Grandmother’s birthday the day she lost her rings! But it doesn’t stop there…Maxine’s Rings fell into a channel which lead to the ocean. Not long after the rings we’re lost, heavy rain started which caused the flowing water in the channel to increase its flow speed….cutting out a larger area in the sand. So what began as a one meter wide channel when Maxine lost the ring, had turned into a 15-20 meter wide channel by the time I arrived. This made it difficult for Maxine to remember exactly where she dropped the rings as everything had changed. The odds we’re against us, but I was determined to find Maxine’s rings…even if I found one, it would be still something for Maxine and her mother to hold onto. There was only a couple of hours of daylight left, so there was no time to waist. I began my usual grid search…and after about 1.5 hours of searching, the rain hammered down. This was not great for moral, but I was not going to give up. And thankfully I didn’t…in the middle of the pouring rain, I received a nice signal from the Excalibur. After two deep scoops, I had whatever was causing the signal. I drained the sand from the scoop in the flowing water…and there it was, Maxine’s beautiful gold diamond ring. Whilst Maxine and her mother we’re making phone calls and jumping for joy, I was looking for the second ring. I knew it had to be close! About 5 minutes later, another nice signal sounded from the Excalibur. I had found Maxine’s second ring. Maxine’s mother was understandably very emotional…they we’re both relieved to have the Rings back in their possession. A quick thank you to Maxine and her mum for such a generous reward. This photo snapped with my iPhone does not really show the full beauty of Maxine’s rings. Hopefully Maxine will send in a better photo for us to admire.

Edit: Thanks for the photos Maxine, now we can all appreciate the true beauty of your Grandma’s Rings