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Lost something · Engagement ring

Lost an engagement ring outdoors? It hasn't gone far.

A thin band with a stone is the hardest thing to see on a beach or a lawn and one of the easier things for a metal detector to hear. If it came off outside, it is lying within a few metres of where it happened. Here is what to do first, what a detector can and can't do with it, and how to get someone nearby looking.

Before anyone arrives

The first hour

  1. 1

    Check the places it hides before you search the ground

    The lining of a bag, the finger of a glove, the folds of a towel, the gap beside a car seat. A ring that slipped off often slipped into something. Two minutes here can save a whole search.

  2. 2

    Then stop and mark where you were

    A pin in your map app, or a photo with something fixed in it. Do it before you move again; the spot you are sure of now will be a guess by tomorrow.

  3. 3

    Think about cold or wet hands

    Fingers shrink in cold water and slippery hands lose rings. Swimming, washing hands at a tap, applying sunscreen, taking gloves off: the last time you did one of those is where to start.

  4. 4

    Don't sift the sand or part the grass

    It pushes a small ring deeper and flattens the place it landed. Leave the ground as it is. A detector reads through it; hands don't.

Where it fell

What a metal detector can do with an engagement ring

The stone is invisible to a detector. The band is not: gold, platinum and white gold all read, and a good coil hears a thin band under several centimetres of sand or turf. The ground decides how long that takes.

On a beach
A light ring sinks into dry sand within minutes and stays roughly where it went in. Below the high-tide line the sand moves with every tide, so the sooner someone sweeps, the better the odds.
In grass or a park
A ring in grass drops to the base of the blades and stays there. It is invisible from standing height, which is why people give up, and obvious to a detector, which is why searchers don't.
In a lake, river or the sea
Shallow, still water up to waist depth is searchable with a waterproof detector, and a ring does not travel far in it. Gold and platinum are not magnetic, so a magnet will not pick it up; a detector is what finds it.
In snow or leaves
A detector reads through snow and leaf litter, so there is no need to wait for a thaw. Mark the spot with something that survives the weather, since footprints and snow both disappear.
When you post

What makes a search more likely to work

A tight area
A 20-metre circle gets searched in an hour. A whole beach does not. Every fixed point you can name is time saved, and time is what a searcher gives you.
Photos of the spot
Not of the thing: of the ground. A photo with a landmark in it lets a searcher stand where you stood. Requests with area photos get offers far faster than those without.
Describe the band, not the stone
The metal is what a detector hears. Thin gold, platinum, white gold with a rhodium plate: say which, if you know. A searcher sets the machine differently for a thin band than for a signet ring.
Answer quickly
Searchers offer for the trips they can actually make, often the same evening or the next morning. An owner who replies within the hour keeps that window open.
How Retrievly works, in short

From where it fell to your hand

  1. 01

    It slips off

    Cold water, a towel, a thin band. The ring is in the sand a few centimetres down, exactly where it happened.

  2. 02

    You mark it and post

    A pin on your phone, a photo of the spot, the story. Searchers nearby see only a rough area, never the pin.

  3. 03

    Someone nearby goes to look

    A detectorist who already searches that ground offers. You pick them, and only they get the exact spot.

  4. 04

    It's back on your hand

    They hand it back in person. Any thank-you is between the two of you; nothing goes through us.

How soon the request goes up and how tightly you can draw the area decide most of it. Same day, with a spot somebody can stand on, is a very different job from a whole beach a fortnight later. For now there is no fee, and Retrievly handles no money at all. The full version.

Worth saying out loud

What makes the difference

It is not a guarantee
A thin band is a small target, so the size of the area does a lot of the work. Two things decide most of it: how soon the request goes up, and how tightly you can draw the circle. Same day and a marked spot is a very different job from a whole beach a fortnight later.
Nobody is vetted
Retrievly does not check, insure or verify searchers or owners. Read their profile and rating, meet somewhere public, and trust your judgement.
No money passes through us
For now there is no fee and no cut. Many owners give a thank-you once the item is back in their hands, agreed between the two of you. Nothing is a real option too.
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Lost an engagement ring? Someone nearby can look | Retrievly