Yesterday I found my first Gold Ring. That was a goal I had been shooting for and it was a thrill that all of you have experienced in this hobby of ours.
There are two of the things I have always felt very strongly about in this hobby. The first was to realize that the true treasure you will come away with is not what is in your pouch at the end of the day, but it is the places you go, the things you see, and the people you meet along the way.
The second is that is very important to always get permission. Not only get permission, but also use it as an opportunity to portray the hobby in a good light. Most people think of getting permission by knocking on someone's door and that is the most used way of doing it. However, you can talk about the hobby other places that you are at where you are around a lot of folks. At work, at church, and other gatherings to name a few. You will be surprised at how many leads you get from people who know you and they then recommend you to someone else.
As I mentioned, I found my first gold ring yesterday, and it was in great shape with the stone still there. There were no identification marks or any other way of knowing who the owner was, so it is mine to keep!
Today, I found my 2nd Gold ring. More on that later.
When I got into water detecting I came to this forum asking a ton of questions. One of the suggestions that I acted on was to go to the dive shop and get a wet suit and dive boots. I'm the XXXXXL type and they didn't have a suit to fit me, but they called someone to see if they could order one. As we waited for the return call, I was asked why I needed the suit, and I began to talk up the hobby to the owner. I mentioned our club and all the things we had found and how my new detector could find rings and things in the water. I even took him out to the truck to see my different detectors.
Well, we never heard back from the vendor he called about my suit, but he took my name and number and promised to check on it for me, and I left.
Fast forward to this morning when I got in the water at 7:00am. I hit one target. It was a silver toe ring. I was happy as it was my 7th ring in a week. Prior to this week I had never found a ring at all in the water. So I'm liking this!
I drive to a different lake and try again. This time, nothing but some pocket change, but that is okay too. So, I decide to come back home and take care of some other task when the cell rings.
It is a guy on the phone who is so stressed that he can hardly get out what he wants to say to me. He had got my number from the guy at the Dive Shop and felt like I might be able to help him find his wedding ring. I said I would be happy too, but he needed to call my at my home so I could write driving instructions down along with the details of where he lost the ring. So he agrees to call me in 5 minutes at my house.
Well, I wait and wait, and finally the phone rings. It is his wife. He couldn't make a long distance call from work. My cell wasn't long distance. So she give me the run down on how to get there and where the ring is lost.
She also tells me the guy is a basket case because they have only been married for one month. He was in the "Dog House". Not because of her, but from his own guilt.
He went into the water near his personal boat dock to work on his boat. Not being used to having a ring on, he forgot about it, and of course it came off. He knew it instantly, but couldn't find it. He got a screen out and sifted a good portion of the lake bed, but it didn't happen. That was right after he got the ring, so it had been in the water almost a month when he hears about me.
His dear wife was totally forgiving and wanted so bad for him to stop hurting over it. There were kids there and clearly it was a 2nd marriage and I could sense that they really were wanting everything to be perfect this time around, and this lost ring was clearly a fly in the ointment.
So here I am ready to find my 8th ring ever in the water when I arrive. The area she described on the phone was quite a bit smaller than the actual area turned out to be. After getting there though, I was determined that I would find this one. As it turned out, it was quite a bit further away than they thought, but I still found it in less than an hour. When she came out to see if it was the ring, her eyes lit up and I knew instantly that it was. The way that she expressed how good she felt for her husband showed how much she truly loved him, and also I could tell how sincere her love for him was by getting him "out of the doghouse".
We agreed ahead of time that I had a pretty long drive and that I would get $20 for gas, but now she wanted to know how much she owned me. I told her whatever she thought. She gave me a fifty and I said that would be fine. They probably had money anyway as it was a very nice house on the lake, but I think she was thrilled to get to spend that on him, again!
Yes, I do feel that the real treasure is where this hobby takes you and the people you meet. This 2nd Gold ring I found was a very heavy and beautiful 14K White Gold ring. I'll treasure not having it more than I ever could if I could have kept it. Hopefully, it will be a treasure to them long after I'm gone.
I'm glad I found it.
[attachment 58672 14K_White_Gold_Ring_01.jpg]
There are two of the things I have always felt very strongly about in this hobby. The first was to realize that the true treasure you will come away with is not what is in your pouch at the end of the day, but it is the places you go, the things you see, and the people you meet along the way.
The second is that is very important to always get permission. Not only get permission, but also use it as an opportunity to portray the hobby in a good light. Most people think of getting permission by knocking on someone's door and that is the most used way of doing it. However, you can talk about the hobby other places that you are at where you are around a lot of folks. At work, at church, and other gatherings to name a few. You will be surprised at how many leads you get from people who know you and they then recommend you to someone else.
As I mentioned, I found my first gold ring yesterday, and it was in great shape with the stone still there. There were no identification marks or any other way of knowing who the owner was, so it is mine to keep!
Today, I found my 2nd Gold ring. More on that later.
When I got into water detecting I came to this forum asking a ton of questions. One of the suggestions that I acted on was to go to the dive shop and get a wet suit and dive boots. I'm the XXXXXL type and they didn't have a suit to fit me, but they called someone to see if they could order one. As we waited for the return call, I was asked why I needed the suit, and I began to talk up the hobby to the owner. I mentioned our club and all the things we had found and how my new detector could find rings and things in the water. I even took him out to the truck to see my different detectors.
Well, we never heard back from the vendor he called about my suit, but he took my name and number and promised to check on it for me, and I left.
Fast forward to this morning when I got in the water at 7:00am. I hit one target. It was a silver toe ring. I was happy as it was my 7th ring in a week. Prior to this week I had never found a ring at all in the water. So I'm liking this!
I drive to a different lake and try again. This time, nothing but some pocket change, but that is okay too. So, I decide to come back home and take care of some other task when the cell rings.
It is a guy on the phone who is so stressed that he can hardly get out what he wants to say to me. He had got my number from the guy at the Dive Shop and felt like I might be able to help him find his wedding ring. I said I would be happy too, but he needed to call my at my home so I could write driving instructions down along with the details of where he lost the ring. So he agrees to call me in 5 minutes at my house.
Well, I wait and wait, and finally the phone rings. It is his wife. He couldn't make a long distance call from work. My cell wasn't long distance. So she give me the run down on how to get there and where the ring is lost.
She also tells me the guy is a basket case because they have only been married for one month. He was in the "Dog House". Not because of her, but from his own guilt.
He went into the water near his personal boat dock to work on his boat. Not being used to having a ring on, he forgot about it, and of course it came off. He knew it instantly, but couldn't find it. He got a screen out and sifted a good portion of the lake bed, but it didn't happen. That was right after he got the ring, so it had been in the water almost a month when he hears about me.
His dear wife was totally forgiving and wanted so bad for him to stop hurting over it. There were kids there and clearly it was a 2nd marriage and I could sense that they really were wanting everything to be perfect this time around, and this lost ring was clearly a fly in the ointment.
So here I am ready to find my 8th ring ever in the water when I arrive. The area she described on the phone was quite a bit smaller than the actual area turned out to be. After getting there though, I was determined that I would find this one. As it turned out, it was quite a bit further away than they thought, but I still found it in less than an hour. When she came out to see if it was the ring, her eyes lit up and I knew instantly that it was. The way that she expressed how good she felt for her husband showed how much she truly loved him, and also I could tell how sincere her love for him was by getting him "out of the doghouse".
We agreed ahead of time that I had a pretty long drive and that I would get $20 for gas, but now she wanted to know how much she owned me. I told her whatever she thought. She gave me a fifty and I said that would be fine. They probably had money anyway as it was a very nice house on the lake, but I think she was thrilled to get to spend that on him, again!
Yes, I do feel that the real treasure is where this hobby takes you and the people you meet. This 2nd Gold ring I found was a very heavy and beautiful 14K White Gold ring. I'll treasure not having it more than I ever could if I could have kept it. Hopefully, it will be a treasure to them long after I'm gone.
I'm glad I found it.
[attachment 58672 14K_White_Gold_Ring_01.jpg]
