January 6th, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Late in December I used my underwater metal detector to search for a gold wedding ring that was lost at Queenscliff beach. The owner beleives the ring may have dropped in the water as he was holding his baby in waist deep water. I spent about 3 hours at low tide slowly searching the water with no luck. If by chance anyone does manage to find a wedding ring at Queenscliff Beach, please contact me. As always the owner is happy to pay a reward for the return of his wedding ring.

December 26th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Last week I packed up my Scuba and Metal Detecting gear and followed Simon to a secluded location somewhere near Clontarf. The previous day Simon had jumped off his friends boat for a swim and felt his wedding ring slip off his finger to the bottom of the water. Water depth was around 3 meters, so it was almost impossible for Simon to swim to the bottom and search for the ring. The following day Simon and I swam out to the area where the ring had fallen. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the water was clear so I had high hopes of finging Simon’s wedding ring. I dropped the lead weight with rope attached to it and began my 360 degree grid search of the area. After having no luck, I moved the weights and rope to another area Simon had mentioned he may have been when the ring dropped. Another search of this area and I was out of air. It is always a horrible feeling coming out of the water empty handed, but unfortunately this is a part of the job. Simon and his wife we’re very grateful for the effort I put into searching for the wedding ring. It was a pleasure to meet you guys, and I am going to organise another visit to this spot with my diving friend Matt.

December 7th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Last week I received a phone call from commercial diver Nathan. He had been asked to search for a lost diamond ring which was dropped in the water somewhere near Cottage Point. The ring’s owner, Edwina, was thinking clearly at the time she lost the ring…dropping a bag of sinkers in the water to mark the area. Edwina and her relatives had spent many hours searching for the ring to no avail. Nathan knew the chances of recovery without the use of an underwater metal detector would be very slim, so he called me to help out. After a boat ride to the location, Sarah (Edwina’s Sister) showed us the area the ring was lost. Much to my surprise the water was crystal clear, and the bottom was beautiful white sand. Sarah jumped in the water and located the bag of sinkers which marked the are of the lost ring. Nathan and I geared up and began the hunt. About 5 minutes into the search I received a nice solid signal from the metal detector. I begin to fan the sand away with my hand, revealing a beautiful gold/diamond ring. I returned the ring to Sarah who was one happy lady! The ring had been passed down from Edwina/Sarah’s grandmother, so it was one of those things that cannot be replaced. I want to thank Sarah and her family for a generous reward. And also thanks to Nathan who co-ordinated the entire recovery. I am sure we will continue working together in the future

November 21st, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Yesterday I was checking my phone messages and I seemed to have missed a phone call from a gentleman by the name of John. According to the voice message John had left, his good friend Lisa lost her wedding ring whilst body boarding in the surf at Maroubra Beach. After returning the phone  call to John, I was honest with him and mentioned recovery of lost rings in the surf are very difficult. In fact, from memory I have only ever successfully recovered one ring in the surf. John was aware that the chances of recovery we’re low, but as always I was up for the challenge. After arriving at Maroubra Beach later that afternoon, I began asking Lisa questions about how she lost the ring. I thought she may have been conscious of the exact moment the ring fell off her finger, but unfortunately this was not the case. Although, she was 100% confident she had the ring on while in the water, and by the time she left the water the ring was gone. The only positive to this whole situation was the ring was lost at high tide, and by the time I arrived the tide was low. I had John and Lisa engrave markings in the sand as to the approximate area Lisa had been body boarding. Since the tide was low, I started my search in the deeper area first…slowly working my way back to the shore line. Being a warm day, the beach was very crowded…and as always people continuously approached me asking what I was looking for. As luck would have it, the beach was incredibly clean. After about an hour of slowly griding the wet water with the metal detector I only received 2 decent signals. One being a pull tab, and the other a bottle cap. By the time I was in ankle deep water I was able to cover more ground without being pounded by waves. Not long after, the underwater metal  detector picked up a nice loud solid signal. I plunged the scoop into the sand and detected the same hole again. No more signal.. Cool I retrieved the signal in one scoop. After emptying the scoop full of sand I began searching with my fingers for what was creating the signal. I was a little disappointed when I caught a glimpse of silver in my eye. I was hoping for a gold wedding band. But after picking up this silver sand covered object, I realised it was definitely a ring! Not only was it a ring, it was a huge ring! The kind of ring that could choke an elephant!  I went back to my car and called Lisa. I asked her what the ring looked like, and she described the exact ring! A huge white gold ring, with a large diamond in the middle, and smaller diamonds curling around the band. I could hear the excitement in Lisa’s voice on the phone, and received a big hug when returning her ring. This is one of the perks of the job It was a pleasure to meet Lisa and John, and thanks for putting up with all my questions before the start of the search.

October 21st, 2009 by Brad Lovell

This story begins with a phone call from Nathan. Nathan is a commercial diver who was helping a gentleman by the name of Paul search for a ring lost in about 7 meters deep of murky water. Nathan had no luck locating the ring after a visual search, so asked if I could help him out with my Metal Detecting equipment. I was happy to help, and drove out to the location which was about 50 minutes North of Sydney. Turns out the lost ring was a world series Toronto Blue Jays baseball ring. Paul is a Baseball coach and spends half the year in Australia, and the other half year in North America. So we gear up, jump in the water and begin the search. As usual, there are constant signals coming from the metal detector and it is up to me to decide which ones are worth investigating. After a few laps up and down the area where Paul believed the Ring fell in the water, I was checking another signal with my Aqua Probe (vibrating pinpointing device)…just as I was pushing the device deeper into the sandy surface, I noticed a small glint of gold. I reach into the sand and pull out a very large chunky gold ring! I head back to the surface and ask Paul if this is the ring he lost? The smile on his face answered that question for me. After the job was finished, we went to a local pub for some beers to celebrate when Nathan broke some news to me. He mentioned that the river we were diving in is known for Bull Sharks, and he has already had an encounter with one there before.  Oh well, I am glad he mentioned this after and not before the job, or I would have been a nervous wreck in that murky water. Was great meeting Paul, Nathan and Casey and I am sure I will join Nathan for more under water salvage operations in the future

October 21st, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I spent Sunday afternoon trying to find Clayton’s wedding ring at Brisbane Waters, near Woy Woy on the Central Coast. While Clayton was washing his boat, he felt his wedding ring slip off his finger and splash into the water. The water depth was only 1.5/2 meters deep, but unfortunately the bottom was seaweed and mud, and visibility was not all that great. I geared up, and started searching the area where Clayton believed the ring had dropped. To cut a long story short, after 6 hours in the water I came back empty handed. I managed to find lots of rubbish, but no wedding ring. I am not sure exactly what went wrong with this job. Did the ring sink so deep into the mud that my detector couldn’t find it?? Perhaps the ring drifted underneath the boat which I could not access. I have not totally given up on Clayton’s wedding ring. I plan on going back their with my diving friend Matt some day for a second attempt. Clayton, it was great meeting yourself and family. And thank you for leaving me more than you should have! I will contact you again soon for a second try.

July 19th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I have not had much luck with my last couple of recovery attempts, which is not a great thing for my confidence. I am stubborn, and really hate to give up hope on a search…I know I shouldn’t take it personally, but it does make me feel defeated. But unfortunately, failure is often the nature of the service I provide. A couple of weeks ago a gentleman by the name of Damian lost his wedding ring in the Nepean River, near Penrith west of Sydney. This was the first time Damian’s wedding ring had ever slipped off his finger, and in this particular instance he happened to be standing on a jetty with the Nepean River below. Damian watched as his wedding ring dropped in the water, and his brother-in-law jumped straight in and began searching for the ring. After a quick phone call to his Wife, Damian had his wetsuit and joined in on the search. There we’re two major problems Damian and his brother-in-law encountered. One, the water was freezing cold. In fact we measured the water temperature at 12.5 degrees. The other problem was the bottom of the river was full of weeds. So visibility was virtually zero. After removing some weeds and searching, Damian and his brother-in-law gave up. Damian found my services on the Internet and decided to give me a call. The following Saturday myself and diving friend Matt headed west to the Nepean River. Matt geared up, and began searching the bottom of the Nepean for Damian’s Ring. After a bone chilling hour plus search, Matt was cold and exhausted. He found many items below, but unfortunately no gold/diamond wedding ring. I could tell Damian was disappointed, yet appreciative of Matt’s efforts at the same time. We we’re not about to give up on Damian yet. I really wanted to join in the underwater search myself…and after a call to Matt’s diving partner Alan, I had the thumbs up to borrow his diving equipment. On Sunday we we’re back at the Nepean river..this time both geared up ready to search. Damian had also meshed up some baskets so we could pull out the weeds to make our search easier. After clearing some weeds, Matt and I we’re both underwater, hunting for Damian’s elusive wedding ring. Visibility was horrible, to the point I could not see my hand infront of me. We we’re basically working blind, operating purely on sound from the under water metal detector..and the vibrations of our pinpointers. After about an hour plus of searching and removing copious amounts of rubbish, I finally had Damian’s large gold wedding ring in my hand. The search was finally over, and Damian was a VERY happy man. I want to thank Damian for being patient with the search process, and helping out where ever he could. And of course, thank you kindly for a generous reward. I also want to thank Matt, without your help I would never have been able recovered the ring. And also a special thank you to Alan for lending me your diving equipment. It is very much appreciated!

February 5th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Kevin lost his wedding ring at Wanda Beach, south of Sydney. The ring had dropped in the surf at about waist height. I was unable to find the ring after a two hour search. If anyone happens to find a wedding ring at Wanda Beach, please contact me with a photo of the ring, and I will pass your details onto Kevin. From memory Kevin’s ring was made from White Gold. I am sure he is willing to pay a generous reward for the recovery of his wedding band.