May 27th, 2010 by Brad Lovell

Shane was in the middle of a Rugby game when he felt his wedding ring slip from his finger. Somehow Shane managed to get the game to stop, whilst he and the other players searched for the ring in the thick grass. With no luck, Shane borrowed a Metal Detector from a friend and attempted searching for the ring himself. Many people (myself included) figure Metal Detecting is simple, you just swing the detector, and when you hear a beep you have found your target. I found out the hard way that it is not that simple. Many things can cause your detector to beep including mineralisation in the ground, hot rocks, iron, rubbish such as bottle caps, scrap metal, foil, pull tabs, nails, electrical interference etc etc. As an operator, you need to know how to interpret each sound. If you attempt searching for every signal you hear, you could spend an entire day searching a very small noisy area. Shane had no luck with the metal detector he borrowed and called me over to join the search. After an hour drive, I made it to Sylvania Waters.. (south of Sydney). Shane showed me the area he was standing when he lost the ring. Literally after 30 seconds of searching I had recovered Shanes wedding ring. Ater the frustration of searching with his football team and the loan metal detector, Shane was very relieved and thankful that I had found his lost wedding ring.

February 23rd, 2010 by Brad Lovell

I am currently searching for a White Gold Wedding ring at Clovelly Beach. The ring was lost Monday Feb 22nd, while Dave was swimming from the steps. (not the beach) The ring has an engraving of a small tear drop on the inside. The inside is polished, while the outside has a dusty look. The ring is quite large, and could have been spotted by scuba divers or snorkelers. If anyone has managed to pick up a ring matching this description, please please contact me ASAP! The return of this ring is incredibly important to Dave as his wife recently passed away. I will continue the search for this ring until it is found.

While searching for Dave’s wedding ring, I managed to find 3 other rings in the process. 2 of them are gold wedding bands, and the other silver. If anyone has lost a ring at Clovelly Beach which looks like the rings in the photos, please contact me so I can organise their return.

January 31st, 2010 by Brad Lovell

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…

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!

August 10th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I always find it amazing how Rings can hide in even the most conspicuous of places. I drove out to Marrickville yesterday to help Andrew find his lost white gold wedding ring. Actually, to be precise, I was looking for half of Andrew’s wedding ring. It was a two piece ring which fell off Andrews finger when throwing a ball to his dog. Andrew found one half, but had no luck in locating the second half. When I arrived, I noticed the area where Andrew had lost the ring had good visibility. There was only small patches of grass where the ring could possibly hide. As I looked around the area, I was thinking surely the Ring could not be there…perhaps it launched over the fence and into the neighbour’s backyard. Anyway, I turned on the Metal Detector and began scanning the area where the other half of the ring was found. A few minutes later, I received a good signal in a grass patch, right next to a wooden garden perimeter. As I parted the grass to the side, I saw Andrew’s gold wedding ring sitting in a crack between the grass and the wood. I want to thank Andrew for a generous reward, even though it was a quick recovery.

July 5th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Similar picture, iPhone photo did not turn out well

Last night I drove out to a sports oval at Maroubra to help Amanda find her lost Diamond Earrings. Before her soccer game began, Amanda removed her Diamond Earrings and asked her friend to take care of them. Her friend put them in her pocket for safe keeping while Amanda played soccer. Unfortunately after the game was over, the earrings were no longer in her friend’s pocket. They obviously fell out while she was watching the game from the side line. After 4 people searched over an hour for the lost earrings, Amanda decided it was time to call me. I could not make it out to the Oval until night, but that turned out to be a blessing. After about an hour of searching the side line, I spotted a reflection from the light of my head lamp. I figured it was just another alluminum pull tab, and scanned the metal detector over the area. Oddly enough, there was no signal. This made me curious, so I pulled out my pinpointer and scanned area again. Once again, no signal. I got down close to the area and started parting the grass to the side. And there they were! Two beautiful diamond earrings! As it turns out, there was not enough gold content in the earrings to set off the metal detector, or the pinpointer.  It was just lucky that I had been there at night with the LED head lamp. I doubt I would have had any chance of finding the earrings in day light. Amanda (and her friend) we’re very happy to have the earring’s back. And Amanda, thank you kindly for a generous reward.

June 8th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

This morning I drove out to Berkshire, near Richmond North/West of Sydney. My mission was to retrieve a wedding ring which was lost in the backyard of Meridith’s beautiful home. Meridith had actually felt both her rings fall off as she flicked her hand, but she was only able to find one of the lost rings. Meridith mentioned to me she was thinking of buying a metal detector on eBay to help find the ring before stumbling upon my website. It was a good thing she found me, as the area where the rings dropped was above reinforced concrete. The steel in the concrete was making the detector go crazy even at a low power level. Since I was having no luck stabilizing the detector above the concreted area, I decided to search to the edges of the concrete where grass could be hiding a ring. The first signal I received was Meridith’s beautiful white gold wedding ring. Meridith gave me a big hug and was happy to have her wedding ring back in possession. And considering the last two jobs I had been on where unsuccessful, my confidence was now back

April 25th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I received a text message from David on Thursday night. He had lost his wedding ring  soccer training at a park in Enfield Sydney. David was so  desperate to find his white gold wedding ring that he drove his car onto the oval so he could search at night with the head lights on. After speaking to David, he decided he would have one more search the following morning in day light. I received a phone call the following morning, unfortunately David had no luck finding the large gold ring in the grass area he believed it had fell. I grabbed my gear and was on my way to Enfield near Burwood, Sydney.  After finding the park, I asked David a million questions about where the ring could have dropped. He had a feeling he felt it drop in an area where he and his soccer team had left their bags for soccer practice. He did not really notice the ring missing until he was walking back to his car. I started searching this area to start with…unfortunately there was a large storm water drain running underneath the area where David thought the ring may have dropped. This made my detector go crazy, even with power reduced to a very low setting. The area that I could not cover with the detector, I just had to search visually. After a solid 3.5 hour search, I was about to call it a day. My back was starting to give out, but I was not content with my search, especially the interference I was getting from the storm water drains and the sprinkler system. I decided to change to a smaller coil on my metal detector. Changing to a smaller coil means each sweep covers less surface area, but it is good for getting in and around noisy areas. The detector was immediately more stable with the smaller coil on. I went back to the drain area where I had troubles detecting earlier with the large coil. About 15 minutes later, I found Davids chunky white gold wedding band hiding beneath the grass blades. This made me extremely happy! To be honest, in my own mind I had given up hope of finding the ring. Especially since David was not sure exactly where it had dropped. And also after almost 4 hours of searching, my body was telling me it was time to quit. I met up with David later on that night,  he was very pleased to have his beautiful white gold wedding band back on his finger. David, thank you so much for such a generous reward.. I really appreciate it!

March 8th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Caroline lost her stunning Diamond Ring in the backyard of her friends house. She had been for a swim, and placed her watch and other jewellery on the towel. When returning from her swim, Caroline lifted the towel causing her jewellery to drop in the grass area around the pool. She managed to find everything except her Diamond Ring. After many hours of searching, Caroline decided to hire a metal detector from Bunnings. The metal detector Bunnings rented out was a Minelab Excalibur machine, which is a brilliant metal detector…but just not the right detector for this particular job. The Excalibur is a machine which can detect up to, and over a foot in depth. So when Caroline and her friends tried searching with this detector, they we’re receiving signals all over the place. And to make matters worse, the fence surrounding the pool was made from metal, which was also making the detector go crazy. After having no luck with the rented metal detector, Caroline decided to give me a call. As always, I was more than happy to help. After a long yet scenic drive to Pitt Town, a suburb near Windsor in Sydney’s North West, I found the property where Caroline had lost her Diamond Ring. Caroline greeted me and showed me the area where her Jewellery had dropped. After asking a few hundred questions, I began my search. I started out by lowering the power setting of my Detector. I figured the ring should still be on the surface, so by reducing the power setting I would eliminate any deep targets. After tuning the detector, I set off scanning the area within the pool fence. This is where Caroline’s other jewellery had dropped, so one would assume the ring would be close by. But, as what always seems to be the case, the Ring was not in this area. So I tried the other side of the pool fence. Once again, no luck. It was time to try a different side. Once again, on the other side of the fence of where the rest of Caroline’s Jewellery had dropped. This time, I received a signal. The signal was very scratchy, and I almost ignored it. But as always when doing a search for someones lost ring, I investigate every little noise I hear. After holding down the pin point trigger, the display mentioned the target was 0.5 inches deep. I began to part the grass with my fingers, and there it was. A big beautiful Diamond ring sparkling in the green grass. This was a learning experience for me. Normally I have an idea if the target is a ring by the tone, and target number displayed on the detector’s screen. But in this particular case, the target was very broken, similar to a foil tone. This could have been because the ring was close to another target which the detector was trying to discriminate..such as a piece of iron. It definitely has nothing to do with the quality of the ring. Something I will definitely keep in mind for future jobs. As I walked towards Caroline with her ring in my hand I observed a look on her face I am now very familiar with. It is the look of excitement, relief and extreme happiness, all rolled into one. After a few jumps for joy, Caroline thanked me kindly for finding her lost ring. Caroline, if you happen to read this post, please feel free to send me a photo of your beautiful diamond ring. As always, my iPhone does not do a great job of capturing just how stunning this ring is

March 1st, 2009 by Brad Lovell

Hal's Stunning White Gold Ring

I was driving passed Coogee beach just after finding Stewarts Wedding Band at Maroubra Beach when I received a phonecall. The call was from a lady who’s friend had lost his Ring in the sand at Coogee Beach. After dropping off Stewart at Bondi, I drove back down to Coogee Beach to see if I could find this ring. I was introduced to Hao, who was the gentlemen who lost his beautiful white gold ring. Hao was obviously devistated that he had lost something of such importance to him. There was little daylight left, so I got straight to work. Hao explained to me that he flicked his hand down as he went to pickup a bag, so he was pretty sure the approximate location of the ring. When I arrived I noticed a crowd of people who had been helping search for the ring, including one guy with a metal detector. Unfortunately, the metal detector only found a couple of bottle caps, and not Hao’s ring. There we’re also some really big holes and sand mounds which made me a little nervous. Anyway, I made my usual perimeter, adding a large buffer zone from the point where the Ring was lost. This confused Hao, but he would soon find out why I did that. After doing a north-south search of an area which should have well and truly covered the area of the lost ring, no ring was found. It was time to complete the grid pattern in an east-west direction. I also increased the AC Power setting on the metal detector to reach deeper signals.

This made the detector a little bit unstable, but I was afraid Hao’s Ring had been buried deeper due to digging. About 10 minutes after starting my east-west sweep of the area, I received a faint signal. As always, when looking for someones lost item, I will dig every single signal..even when I know it is just a bottle cap, or foil. I began digging for the faint signal, which become louder once I removed a few layers of sand. A little more digging, and there it was. Hao’s stunning White Gold Diamond ring. It wasn’t in the same spot that Hao thought he lost it, but this seems to be very common. The look on Hao’s face when I handed him the ring is the reason I love my job so much! The look of dispair turned into happiness within a split second. And Hao gave me one of the firmest hand shakes I have had in a while Hao was incredibly greatful for the work I had put in to recovering his lost ring, and handed me a very generous reward. Hao, it was a pleasure to meet you, and an honour to return such a beautiful ring to its rightful owner. And thank you for sending me some photos of the ring. The photo on my iPhone did not do it the justice it deserves.