News on Adelaide Lost Ring Search

Gold price in 2025

Mon, 05 May 2025 12:58:59 +1030

As a finance and investment safe haven gold increases in value when economies are unstable. This is certainly the case in 2025 with the price of 1 ounce (31 grams) of 24 ct gold currently AU$5,056.39.

To put that in perspective 18ct gold has 75% gold content so 5 gm 18ct gold ring would have a just gold content value around $612 on top of the emotional and sentimental value.

Quick update

Mon, 05 May 2025 12:26:49 +1030

I haven't updated any blog posts on Adelaide Lost Ring Search for around 8 years- so probably time.

First up, yes this service is still active and I receive frequent requests for searches throughout the year. Summer and the warmer months are busy with lost rings at beaches and parks so I average around 10 searches per week while winter and cool months are quieter.

The systems and plans I use to find items have evolved over the years but fundamentals are similar and I still find great joy in returning items to people and making their day.

Searching a child day care centre playground for sharps

Thu, 09 Mar 2017 10:14:21 +1030

An Adelaide day care centre phoned to see if I could check their play areas for sharps and metal junk after some contractors worked on improvements. Over 2 days I spent about 4 1/2 hours working my way through the bark chips and found quite the collection or interesting bits and pieces.

Result from 4 1/2 hours making a play area safer

Razor blade and nails found in a day care playground

Finding Zsófia's ring at Henley Beach

Fri, 13 Jan 2017 14:07:15 +1030

I was just settling into a quiet evening at home last night when Henley Beach Surf Club phoned around 7.30 asking if I could possibly help a couple near the jetty. Turned out Zsófia had lost her ring 20 or 30 metres out in chest high water and was very concerned about the bad weather due later. I grabbed some water proof detecting gear and headed down there to see if I could help. Once I finally got down to Henley from Hillcrest I found Zsófia and headed out to where her husband Danka was trying to dive down and find the ring, dropped a marker in the water at roughly where they thought the ring was and started work. I searched about 15m north/ south and about the same east/ west but unfortunately didn’t find the ring before nightfall. The tides looked fairly good for Friday afternoon so I suggested I head back there around midday and try again with the ring possibly out of the water or maybe just in shallow water.

Finding David's lost white gold wedding ring

Tue, 10 Jan 2017 16:20:10 +1030

On Christmas Eve Alicia and David walked to a local soccer pitch enjoying some nice Adelaide summer weather. At some stage during the walk David lost his white gold wedding ring and they were unable to find it. A few days later Alica contacted me via facebook and we worked out a time to catch up for a search that evening.

We met up at the Athelstone Soccer Oval and had a chat to work out where the ring could be and I went to work checking the larger areas with a Minelab Sovereign GT, then changing to a Tesoro Tejon near some fencing and finally an old tesoro I keep around with a 4" hockey puck coil to get right next to metal objects like the fence and playground equipment at the park.

Happy new year and a white gold ring trifecta

Sun, 01 Jan 2017 19:41:03 +1030

Happy New Year everyone and best wishes for a loss free 2017.

2016 ended a little disappointingly for me with a search for 3 rings on Friday at Somerton Park. Unfortunately the rings probably ended up somewhere in the surf zone a few days after that big storm stripped sand from the beach. The combination of pounding waves and the beach re-filling with sand after the storm meant that the rings were going to be deep and difficult to track down.

Quick find of a lost white gold ring in Lockleys, Adelaide

Fri, 16 Dec 2016 21:12:27 +1030

Jenn contacted me via Facebook after her husband’s white gold ring was lost in the back yard. The job turned out to be a bit of a challenge as the grass was on top of wire mesh presumably to stop rabbits borrowing or similar. Fortunately Jenn’s 4yr old son Christian is a gun metal detector operator and was able to show me the ropes finding a fortune in coins.

After a very relaxing 5 minutes accompanied by some friendly fish I found the ring hiding deep in some grass next to a trampoline post.

Windsor gardens search for a lost white gold wedding band

Fri, 05 Feb 2016 18:54:58 +1030

Elena called me late this afternoon after finding my well hidden ad on Gumtree (I need to fix that). Anyway, it turned out George had lost his ring along a street and asked if I could take a look. The job was just around the corner so I packed the car and headed out and was there within 20min or so.

The ring was likely to be on either side of the road, so I spent maybe an hour searching one side then concentrated on the stretch along the other side of the road. Nothing too tricky about it and it was just a matter of time before it turned up under some leaves and bark at the base of a bush.

Sentimental ruby and diamond gold ring lost and found at Glenelg South Australia

Thu, 28 Jan 2016 15:18:43 +1030

Gemma lost a very sentimental ring in the water at Glenelg on Tuesday. We met up yesterday and I searched for an hour without luck with some difficulties. 1. there were people sun baking in the search area so I had to leave big slabs of beach alone. 2. The water was too rough to search.

I really dislike failed searches so I headed back there today around low tide and managed to search in the water a bit and worked my way out of the water back up the beach. After many passes up and down the beach in the large search area I finally heard that sweet gold sound in a compact round target not too deep and quickly recovered it. Gear was Minelab Sovereign GT with Coiltek Manufacturing WOT coil and the heaviest insulated headphones I could find in the storm like winds.

White gold ring recovered for Trish at Semaphore, South Australia

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 17:27:05 +1030

Trish phoned up this morning after losing her ring swimming yesterday afternoon in Semaphore a popular beach location west of Adelaide. I caught up with her husband Jim today at low tide and we worked out the best search area and how far down the beach it was likely to be.

I started about 5m out of the search area and worked my way down to the water searching about 20m lines each way. After several bottle tops, a pull tab, some junk jewellery and a few coins I picked up that nice rounded, mellow gold sound with a big target just below the surface. I only had to reach in about 1" of sand and there it was.

Sentimental ring lost and found at Semaphore South Australia

Sat, 02 Jan 2016 19:31:39 +1030

Mary contacted me via facebook to ask if I thought it was possible to find a ring lost on New Years Eve while swimming. After a few questions it sounded like a fairly easy job and we agreed to meet up the following day at low tide. Given the time and rough depth of water when it was lost I was able to work out roughly how far down the beach to search while Claudia worked out a possible north and south boundary along the beach.

Sentimental engagement ring lost and found in Seacliff, South Australia

Sun, 19 Jul 2015 12:24:29 +1030

Caroline called last night after losing a very sentimental ring down at Seacliff, a popular southern beach in Adelaide. Unfortunately it was lost while walking the dog so the search area was huge. We had a bit of a chat trying to work out the most likely areas and even then the search area was about 150m x 50m which is nearly 2 acres.

I separated that area into 3 sub searches, nothing in the first, then 2 hours searching the main walking area- nothing, then only left with the path Caroline would have walked onto the beach from the car. Nothing in the first pass, turned around to head back, walked 2m and there it was. Hiding about 4" under some powder soft sand was this beautiful and precious ring. Caroline couldn’t believe her luck and looked a little in shock, but the smiles took over she is one very happy, relieved lovely lady.

Engagement Ring Recovered in the Surf

Sat, 28 Feb 2015 20:50:07 +1030

Jessie phoned up last night wondering if I could search for a lost engagement ring in waist deep water at Brighton. We arranged to meet down there today at low tide and after a quick chat I pegged out an area about the size of a tennis court and started detecting.

Detector of choice today was a water proof Tesoro Sand Shark and I finally had the ring in my hand just after an hour.

Gold ring lost and found in Marino

Wed, 09 Jul 2014 19:15:39 +1030

Shiara called today to say she had lost a ring down at Marino. She was able to put me close enough that it was found within 5 minutes. Another really friendly client and a lovely ring back where it belongs.

Lost engagement ring found in One Tree Hill Adelaide

Sun, 02 Feb 2014 11:20:58 +1030

Initially this young couple hired a metal detector to try and find their lost engagement ring, however they didn’t have any luck after 6 or so hours searching. I ended up dropping in on them to help out and together we searched the large area on the side of a road for 1.5 hours.

Nothing turned up the first day before it got dark, so I rejoined them the following day and re-searched the area with the Minelab Sovereign GT but no luck.

White Gold Engagement Ring Lost and Found in West Beach, Adelaide

Mon, 27 Jan 2014 10:24:12 +1030

A heartbroken Tania phoned me at 3:30 on Australia day after losing her white gold engagement ring at West Beach. The poor thing was distraught and very concerned that the ring was lost forever.

We caught up at the car park at around 4:15 and walked down to the frantically scratched up sand where 2 hours of unsuccessful physical searching had failed to find the ring.

Tania pointed out the rough search area and a few other places it could have landed, and I went to work with the Minelab Sovereign GT. Only a bottle top on the first search grid line, then a great sounding signal on the return grid line. A quick pinpoint with the trusty Garrett Pro-pointer later and I just used my fingers to dig into the soft sand and pull out the really nice engagement ring :)

Lost and found wedding ring in Magill

Mon, 11 Nov 2013 11:37:39 +1030

John from Magill phoned up this morning to see if I could help find his wife’s lost wedding ring. Katherine had lost the ring while gardening in the backyard yesterday and looked online for a hire detector.

The search area was about 10m^2 of lawn, a couple of paths, the green bin and 2 garden beds.

I searched 1/2 of the first garden bed first, then gridded the lawn to take that out of the equation. Next was the other half of the first garden bed (near a steel fence) and that is where I found it. Just tucked under some loose lawn clippings.

Ring lost while gardening found by Adelaide Lost Ring Search

Tue, 05 Nov 2013 09:29:59 +1030

George phoned after he lost his wedding band while gardening in his backyard in Southern Adelaide (Aberfoyle Park). He had been scrambling around in some heavy undergrowth pulling out weeds and had no idea where the ring was lost.

George’s lost and found wedding band

I started metal detecting the green bin, then the paths he had carried the weeds along. Apart from a small lawn and the green bin, the rest of the search was all along a colourbond fence and a metal shed so it was difficult.

Ring found in Oakbank

Tue, 05 Nov 2013 09:19:12 +1030

Andrew phoned up after his brand new wife Christiana lost her platinum wedding ring while taking photos during the reception.

She had walked around 100m down their driveway, climbed through a wire fence (picture this in a wedding dress and pregnant ) and had a series of photos taken in a horse paddock and near a dam.

The search area was fortunately around 1/2 acre on a 10 acre property in lovely Oakbank in the Adelaide Hills.

Necklace at Henley Beach

Sat, 19 Oct 2013 20:54:59 +1030

For a sunny day today was very quiet then the phone rang with a dropped necklace just north of Henley Jetty. I let dinner go cold and headed down there ASAP. They were quite surprised to see me 30 minutes or so after the call and explained what happened.

He lost it while flicking the towel at the end of the beach session. Fortunately he took a photo of the rocks up on the break water so we had a reasonable idea where he was. The search area ended up being only 20m by about 30m. lent I started at the wet sand knowing that he wouldn’t have laid in the damp and gridded my way up towards the rocks. I picked up 3 dodgy signals (too deep) and after about 15 minutes detected a nice low (expected) tone on the Sovereign GT.

A little detective work finds the ring without a metal detector

Wed, 16 Oct 2013 22:10:20 +1030

Turned up to a nice house up on Mt Osmond at 5pm today to find a lost wedding band. Introduced myself and had a quick chat for a couple of minutes.

Then at around 5.03 I asked all the heavy questions about what he was doing at the time, where he had been, what was he wearing, is there a chance it is in the car, bin, house, and all that logistic stuff …

Lost wedding ring found on Brighton Beach

Mon, 07 Oct 2013 18:04:50 +1030

Dom called me on Saturday while I was away on holiday. He had lost his wedding band at Brighton Beach just south of Adelaide on Friday and tried to find it himself after buying a metal detector. Unfortunately he was unable to find it and found me online. I spent about 45 minutes looking in the areas he pointed out then extended the search area a little and found it. A nice gold wedding band found and returned :)

Ring lost for 4 years found

Fri, 04 Oct 2013 15:02:34 +1030

Had a look for a ring lost four years ago by a now deceased gentleman. The son phoned me up to see if I could help his mother out by finding the long lost ring and bring a little bit of her lost husband back to her.

The search was over much of the front yard and it ended up being under a rock in a very overgrown bush.

One very happy son, and a crying, overwhelmed beautiful lady who gave me a hug

Recent finds

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 18:57:43 +1030

Some ring and coin finds from around Adelaide

Preparation for Summer

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 15:07:21 +1030

The quiet winter months are over and it is time to prepare for spring and summer. This year I am hoping to build enough momentum and goodwill to make a living out of metal detecting.

I know there is enough demand and opportunity, it is the marketing and general business skills that need work- yep me :)

Everything related to the business needs work, there’s the crazy low pricing, the lack of some specialist equipment, a shop front and 100’s of other details that would improve things. This week’s task was organising some car signage.

Logistics of Beach Detecting

Tue, 28 May 2013 07:30:56 +1030

The largest single genre of lost jewellery searches I perform are lost rings that slip off while throwing something at the beach. While I really enjoy searching for and finding rings in beach environments they do have some unique difficulties that make things interesting. 1. Salt water destroys electronics quickly

Waves and wind can make searching the surf zone extremely tricky (and sometimes a little dangerous)
It can be really busy on nice days, so physically getting to the search area is problematic.

Sentimental Ring Found

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 18:08:39 +1030

I had the absolute pleasure of helping out Phil and his wife with a very sentimental lost item yesterday.

The call came in while I was knee deep in databases so was in itself a welcome relief :) Phil was originally looking for a hire detector to find his late mother’s wedding band but after a quick chat I explained that the hire detectors were not really ideal for new users in wet beach salt water sand environments and suggested just getting me to pop down there..

Other Metal Detecting

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:07:49 +1030

While jewellery rescue is the main reason we get called out to search with metal detectors there are plenty of other reasons to consider using a detector. Here are some to think about:

Have your lawns searched before moving house
Safety search to remove wire, nails, bullets, etc from play areas
Search for caches buried in yards
Coin and relic searches while visiting historic locations
Remove junk metal from garden beds
Searching for pipes
Searching for buried cables
Locating lost pop up sprinkler locations
Searching for nails in timber

I have even found a cache of gelignite.

Lost keys found in a horse paddock

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:22:25 +1030

Today’s search was tricky for a few reasons. The main issue was that the lost keys were somewhere in a massive search area. They were lost in one of two 2 hectare paddocks and narrowing the search zone was difficult.

The second major issue was that the keys were lost in knee high grass, so both keeping the coil close to the ground and also following up on signals was difficult.

White Gold Ring Found in Seacliff

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:00:07 +1030

Just back from a successful search for a really nice white gold ring with a large Victoria era diamond. The lady was completely distraught and devastated at losing this ring. Fortunately she was clever enough to note the area carefully and was able to put me within 5m of the location. Connor joined me for this trip and the little trooper helped hold a torch :)

After marking out a search area and getting to work it only took about a minute before hearing that lovely growl of white gold. I am really glad I was able to get down to Seacliff tonight and help out this really nice couple :)

Lost Ring Found With Hire Metal Detector

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:58:27 +1030

A lovely couple contacted me with the sad news they had lost an engagement ring down near Middleton Beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula. They were not sure exactly where the ring was and asked to hire a detector for the weekend.

The ring was likely to be in either grass or dry sand so I set them up with a Tesoro Silver Umax (Micromax) and some accessories. They had not used a Metal Detector before so I offered a few tips and techniques including searching for a gold ring on the lawn, and they were off.

Mountain Bike Counters

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:38:40 +1030

Most of the metal detecting jobs I get are based around finding lost jewellery. Every now and then I am asked to help find others such as pipes, cables, darts the kids threw into the back yard grass, etc. This time I was asked to find some electronic counters used on a mountain bike track in the Adelaide foot hills.

After walking along the track dodging the intermittent rain for around a kilometre or so I came across the area where the counter was lost. I turned on the the Minelab Sovereign GT and searched the rough area quickly. There was one very strong signal around 1 inch away from where a trench had been dug to find the counter so I marked that and kept looking for more signals.

Adelaide Lost Ring Search Marketing

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 20:52:05 +1030

There are plenty of people out there losing things like keys, jewellery and other metallic items every day. However they just don’t know this service exists so it is time to concentrate on some marketing. Here are a few ideas that I am trying to get the word out there on the cheap :)

Facebook: I have set up a facebook page at http://facebook.com/lostringsearch -it is tiny ATM with 18 likers, but hopefully I can get things building quickly.

Hire Metal Detector Finds Lost Ring

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 19:45:11 +1030

A nice couple visited today to hire a detector after dropping a ring. They swapped the lovely Tesoro Silver Umax for $40 in hire charge and a deposit and went to work.

They could of kept the detector for a day, but returned only a couple of hours later with the great news that they had found the ring. It only ended up taking around 10 minutes for a successful result and life is good again :)

Metal detector hire turns into a safer lawn

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:46:58 +1030

This morning a lady phoned looking for a hire metal detector to do a search at her house in the Adelaide Hills. I had two detectors available for hire but offered to drive up and help with the search rather than have her drive down twice to pickup and a return the detector.

The search ended up being for two darts that some energetic children had thrown into the lawn :) Having a multitude of children myself, I can picture the events unfolding :)

Ring Rescue in Largs Bay Adelaide

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:36:17 +1030

I am very happy to report that the lovely Amy and her very nice family now have there gold wedding band back :)

Amy posted a lost notice that her husband had lost his ring in Largs Bay (North West Adelaide, South Australia). The search sounded possible and the location not too far away, so I called Amy and asked if we could meet down there. We caught up and worked out the search area (about 40m x 20m in total) and I went to work.

Successful Jewellery Rescue

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:14:55 +1030

Found a spectacular white gold wedding for a nice guy who lost it at a local beach on the weekend. Fortunately Matthew was on the ball and really narrowed down the search area to about 30m x 30m.

He looked for marks, even had a gps handy and took down as much detail as he could.

A fantastic result and I can just imagine the elated phone call back home :)

Found lost ring at beach with hire metal detector

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:35:09 +1030

I received a SMS yesterday morning from a concerned gentleman who had lost his wedding ring in some dry sand at the beach. He hired a Garrett Ace 250 metal detector off of Adelaide Lost Ring Search for just $40 and returned to the beach to try his luck.

Not long later I received the great news that he found the ring - Awesome :)

Man finds gold ring, returns to owner | WAVY.com | Virginia Beach

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:57:36 +1030

The huge gold class ring found last week was returned to the owner. Jewellery rescue is all about smiles :)

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - Metal detecting is a giant game of lost and found for Henry "Tuffy" Braithwaite. Braithwaite spends hours scouring the sands of Virginia Beach almost every day.
But when Braithwaite struck gold last week, he picked up the phone and did the right thing.

via Man finds gold ring, returns to owner | WAVY.com | Virginia Beach.

Iron Age gold coins discovered in Kimbolton

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:29:20 +1030

Finding a hoard of 2000yr old gold coins would be amazing.

A HOARD of gold coins more than 2,000-years-old has been discovered in Kimbolton.
The 67 Iron Age coins were discovered by a metal detector in October last year but details of the find, described as significant by a curator at the British Museum, were only made public last week. The coins were subject to an inquest at Lawrence Court in Huntingdon on Thursday (September 29), where it was down to the deputy coroner of Cambridgeshire, Belinda Cheney, to determine if the hoard should be officially classified as treasure.

via Iron Age gold coins discovered in Kimbolton - Latest News - Hunts Post.

TreasureWorks - Man finds gold ring, returns to owner

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:49:21 +1030

Always great to see a happy ending. Here is a story from the states with a returned ring. :)

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - Metal detecting is a giant game of lost and found for Henry "Tuffy" Braithwaite. Braithwaite spends hours scouring the sands of Virginia Beach almost every day.
But when Braithwaite struck gold last week, he picked up the phone and did the right thing.

via TreasureWorks - Man finds gold ring, returns to owner.

Sydney beach scavenger matches lost treasures to owners | CNNGo.com

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:05:52 +1030

When you lose your engagement ring on a Sydney beach, who you gonna call? A guy who wears yellow earphones and carries a metal detector could be your savior

via Sydney beach scavenger matches lost treasures to owners | CNNGo.com.

Jewellery rescue article about Tony from http://jewelleryrescue.com.au

Amateur detector unearths rare medieval find - Scotsman.com News

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 10:08:11 +1030

Amateur detector unearths rare medieval find - Scotsman.com News.

A CHANCE discovery has led to the uncovering of what is being claimed as one of the most significant relics of Scotland's medieval history.

Such a cool hobby :)

Metal detectors' grenade drama (From Andover Advertiser)

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:31:41 +1030

Metal detectors’ grenade drama (From Andover Advertiser).

You need to be careful out there, some relics go bang … Reminds me of the cache of gelignite I once found :)

Veteran’s medal reunited with relative - Local - Peterlee Mail

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:49:26 +1030

Veteran’s medal reunited with relative - Local - Peterlee Mail.

Nothing better than seeing an identifiable item returned to the owner or family. Here a first world war service medal found while metal detecting is returned to a relative. Awesome :)

The Secret Lives of Metal-Detector Guys | Raw File | Wired.com

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:22:50 +1030

The Secret Lives of Metal-Detector Guys | Raw File | Wired.com.

An article on Wired about metal detecting. Reasonable info but a strange layout. Good to see the hobby hitting mainstream media :)

Truth about Metal Detecting, Treasure Hunting - All Info!

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:35:40 +1030

Truth about Metal Detecting, Treasure Hunting - All Info!.

This is a huge site with vast amounts of information on metal detecting in general. I stumbled across it while looking for coin cleaning tips but there is days worth of reading here.

I highly recommend this site to anyone looking for detecting tips.

Another metal detecting hunt

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:43:17 +1030

A nice collection of pennies and half pennies picked up in one session.

Some recent finds

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:28:30 +1030

Here are a few finds from detecting this week. It is always nice to pick up a few pre-decimal coins. First a trip to a river bank.

Next, a new spot I found. First target was a florin :)

A closer look at the silvers.

A bit more silver

Adelaide is a wonderful place to live. The detecting options are endless with coin, relic and gold locations everywhere :)

Adelaide Lost Ring Search

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:21:09 +1030

It can be heart breaking to lose a loved piece of jewellery. Necklaces and bracelets break easily, and rings fall off when wet from sweat or swimming.

No matter what you have lost, if it contains metal and the location is accessible then chances are that it can be found.

Adelaide Lost Ring Search provides a ring and jewellery recovery or rescue service to help find lost metallic items. My goal with this service is simply to re-unite the owner with the lost item.