Anyone lose any valuable jewelry themselves ?

[Xraywolf]

I did.
Probably about 12 years ago I was working at a power plant in Marysville MI. Lunch break I'd often walk to the river and eat lunch.

So I got bored after eating and started throwing stones into the river, about the 4th stone I was horrified to see my 14K gold bracelet fly off my wrist and follow the stone into the water. My first instinct was to strip and dive for it, but I quickly realized that well could have been suicide, Detroit river is no joke plus I'm not even that great of a swimmer. Even if I was, no idea how deep it was there, easy to get in the water no practical way to get out, plus what are the actual odds of finding it before running out of air even if you knew about where it entered the water ?

Gold was probably about $350 so the pain wasn't that bad, would be worth over $1k today - Bracelet is certainly still down there as we speak, and likely will never be recovered.

 

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[JoeDirty]

That really stinks. I have never lost anything like that. I don't wear much jewelry so i guess that is why! I often ask the same question when I'm searching. But chains and bracelets do break leaving them lost. That is that no-one picks it up off the ground right?! I found a 925 ring the other day bringing hope that finds are there for the taking.

 

[ARC]

Cool thread...

I have lost several items... one of extreme value... and a story with that will make you cry.

 

[ARC]

First item...

When I was about 15...
My 14k rope chain with diver charm... was cast netting in the intercostal waterway from seawall...
Net caught my chain (I forgot to take it off)...
When I threw the net BAM my neck jerked...
I knew in a split second...
Dove off wall and looked for a falling shimmer... nodda...

I came back day after day... low tides... searching and searching ... nothing.

After a year... was mine again.

Let a girl at school wear it... like a dummy... (I was 15ish years old)
She had it a week...
THEN SHE LOST IT> ! - And did not know where... which I think someone stole it from her.

 

[Oddjob]

Lost two things really important to me of value.

First was in the Ghan December of 2002, had a pretty bad day, took about 7 hours to get me out via medical, not sure I passed out after about three hours. 42 days later I woke up in Landstuhl hospital. Took a few days as I was still pretty much out if it, but then it hit me, my Grandfathers ring was not on my hand anymore. He had gotten it from his father. It was decent gold ring with a 9 carrot diamond in it. Not worth the world but certainly worth the world to me. I had it before I had my wife, so when I was married I told my wife this would be my wedding ring I would wear.

I pushed the nurse button, someone came in, asked where my things where they said most was bagged up before I was even put on a bird, which had not been opened since then, then while on the bird another bag of items was put together, that bag was mostly my clothing, it too was sealed and that a ring was taken off me and placed in a safe spot.

I searched through my stuff, heck I had two bring backs that where bagged up, no ring though. I asked the doctors and some of them claimed to have seen a ring but last they saw it Ltc. Chen had taken it and to lock it up.

Ltc Chen claimed she never saw it, I reported it to my Command of course, then to CID. Everything pointed toward Ltc Chen. 4 weeks later still nothing so I reported it to my Congressman, my grandfather new his father and where friends. A few days later Chen thought it would be a good idea to come into my room and let me know that I needed to stop trying to get her in trouble about some ring that did not exist.

I told her that I would kill her in front of her children, and that if she wanted she sure could go on and report me saying this, that no one would believe her as it would e a textbook move of disinformation in Criminal Justice.

So I got better, then I got much better, the I showed I could function just fine. Then the board said that I would either need to step down and take up a training roll for the rest of my career or be medically retired. No way I was training people, and I thought I could force their hand. Retirement approval came back at 100%, so I appealed it and flew State Side for my appeal, presented my case but still ended up getting retired at 100% with 42 Service Connected Disabilities.

Back at my hotel room I called up a buddy of mine who owned a private military service company under DOD contract, let him know what was going on and asked for a job. He said he was in the area and would stop by my room. He comes by within the hour, I was shocked at how fast he got there.

We talked a little and I decided that I just liked my job, but that his company was not exactly my cup of tea. On his way out he tells me he needs to stop by jeweller and get his ring resized. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and my Grandfathers ring was on his thumb, he said it must have belong to some really big guy because it is still falling off his thumb.

I was so happy, he said that a friend of my family called him up and let him know what was going on. He said that he had someone in Germany last week and that it only took them about 5 minutes to find my ring. He says don not worry, you where in a hearing State side when she decided to hand over the ring.

 

[Oddjob]

The second thing I lost, I also found. I was given an Audemars Puiguet with custom bands.

I used to take it off and put it in my weapons case before we took on a tasking.

After this one tasking I went back to my weapons case to put up my SVD and no watch, I went back over the area really good. That thing cost as much as a house and was a gift from a dear friend. Never found it. A year goes by and I am going to purpose my AK Case for a CTX 3030, coils, charger and batts so I do not have to worry about it getting damaged when we go on taskings, I always have down time when we are sent out.

So I am switching cases and there is my watch under a mag. What had happened was at the last minute I changed my roll on that tasking, put my AK back in her case with the mags in a rush, grabbed my SVD and went to work. Never thought to go through the AK case, the six mags I keep in there are not often rotated out because I have a mag bag for my Five Seven, SVD and AK.

I was happy to see that again.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I'm one of the few people in this world that has never lost any valuable jewelry, keys, wallet or even my driver's license. Guess I've been lucky in that regard.

The only decent thing I ever lost was a big, brass peace sign medallion. I lost that in the early 1970's, when I was around 10 years old. I jumped in a huge pile of leaves I had been raking and it fell off. Never found it. What a drag to lose something that cool! LOL!

 

[ARC]

Sand Key State Park...
Large 18k nugget ring I found while detecting... was a pride and joy... was about 17...
My "friend" decides to start throwing sand at everyone while in chest deep water...
I throw one handful back... ALONG with the ring due to it being loose on my finger... the funny part... my throw counted... he got a cherry on top of his face of sand...
DEAD CENTER of his forehead the ring pinged and flew off to left...
I immediately dive under and begin swimming in the direction under water looking for it on bottom... Nadda.

Now get this...
Sand Key Park is off limits to detecting... Or was then.
It peeved me...
I wanted that ring back and I knew basically where it was and could not go back with a detector and had tried by eye several times to no avail...
I ask the Ranger...
Its a no...

So... The LARGE 18k nugget ring at far north tip of Sand Key IS MINE ... heh

 

[ARC]

Had to rewrite above babble... sorry was half sleep typing.

heh.

I will spare the other stories... except the worst.

I had a rare 1622 Atocha 8... custom made by Mels guy...
I was 14k massive bezel...
With diver going through coral... Diamond for mask glass.
A true piece of work.

I had it attached to a two foot Taxco block silver chain...
Was my pride and joy.

Walking through a flea market in Pinellas Park...
I look down...
Its gone from the chain.
I friggin panic...

I begin yelling across the market... $500 dollars cash for anyone who finds my coin !
Everyone is looking everywhere.

Nadda.

Ok... ready for this...

I hear later that this pill head biatch found it... AND SCRAPPED IT ! ! !
She tore the coin out and scrapped the gold.

I confronted her and she admitted it... stating she had no idea it was mine.
I asked her what she did with the coin... she says she does not remember...
She is scared about being in some legal trouble or ?

She scrapped it (rumor) in silver after someone had told her... "its too good to be real". :/

This still pains me... hard.

 

[vpnavy]

This may not qualify as "valuable jewelry" but...when I joined the Navy this old crusty Chief gave me a Navy Money Clip. I carried that puppy around for well over 50 years. Unfortunately, while in Cape Canaveral, FL two years ago I lost it. The last place I remember having it was at a 7-11 paying for some coffee. When I returned they said they never saw it... To this day - every time I pass a 7-11 I think about my old friend.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Lost my gold wedding band while working in Chelsea, Mich - middle of winter.
Co-worker calls a few months later, says he found it in the parking lot.

Lost it again, 20 years later. Ended up finding it in the change jar, just as I was dumping it into the coin counter at the CU.

 

[kcm]

I'm one of the few people in this world that has never lost any valuable jewelry, keys, wallet or even my driver's license. Guess I've been lucky in that regard.

The only decent thing I ever lost was a big, brass peace sign medallion. I lost that in the early 1970's, when I was around 10 years old. I jumped in a huge pile of leaves I had been raking and it fell off. Never found it. What a drag to lose something that cool! LOL!

Well, I guess you can add me to that list. However, there was one time when I was doing some work outside and my wedding band fell off. It had broken. However, I simply looked down and saw it at my feet.

I have, however, lost quite a number of fishing lures!

 

[kingskid1611]

Lost my first 14K gold wedding ring several months after being married while on training in the Army. still haven't told the wife it was while skinny dipping in the lake with everyone. Don't quite know how to tell her this one. Never recovered it.

 

[kcm]

Lost my first 14K gold wedding ring several months after being married while on training in the Army. still haven't told the wife it was while skinny dipping in the lake with everyone. Don't quite know how to tell her this one. Never recovered it.

Ummmm, didn't she ever notice it was missing?!?!?

 

[kingskid1611]

Ummmm, didn't she ever notice it was missing?!?!?

picked one up that was similar at a pawn shop before coming home..... I hope she don't read this.....

 

[Dr. Syn]

Many have accused me of loosing my mind. I guess I keep finding it.

Not me, but the wife, lost her heart shaped 3 carat engagement diamond. Still had the ring, but the stone was gone.

 

[Xraywolf]

Some pretty sad tales.
Ironic that guys like us who spend a fair amount of time specifically looking for things other people have lost lose stuff themselves.

The one thing I lost that really hurt wasn't all that valuable. It was an odd prybar/hammer sort of tool, easy to tell it was made in the 40's or 50's. Loved this thing and every guy that saw it on a job loved it too and asked where I got it from ,,, I don't know where I got it, just appeared and had it for years and years. I have seen many similar, but none had the look and feel of this thing.

So I was working inside a nuclear water cooling tower way up high, sad thing is I didn't need to be carrying this thing with me in my pouch, all I needed was Klines, razor and hammer, but I liked it so much I just wanted it with me. So I'm bending over doing something and I hear klink,klang,bing,bong and I'm thinking, please don't tell me that was my tool !

It was, there were guys working on levels below me, no one screamed so I figured at least it didn't fall on anyones head. I went down level by level asking guys if they saw it, they all heard it falling but no one saw where it landed. Went to the very bottom and searched around , no luck. I spent the next 5 lunch hours trying to find it and never did, must have jammed up in some inaccessible place towards the wall and likely still sits there today. That loss hurt more than the gold bracelet, after that I rarely carry tools working heights that I am sentimental about.

 

[SusanMN]

Well, for the last year and a half I thought I had thrown away all of my personal silver and gold jewelry. Had an 18 year old nephew come and stay for the summer of 2015, and wanting to protect my jewelry, I put it away. Somewhere, including, I remembered later, in a bag under the wastebasket in my room. So he leaves In September and I look everywhere upstairs and downstairs, tear the house apart and I can't find that jewelry. I remembered stashing it under the wastebasket at on point and finally accepted that I'd likely forgotten what was in the bag and tossed it into the outgoing trash at some point. I have felt sick about it ever since, although buying myself a few good replacement pieces has been fun.

I was doing preholiday closet cleaning today and moved my stash of gift boxes and bags and damned if there wasn't a small box behind them with my jewelry in it. I have absolutely no memory (sucks getting old) of placing it there but I am absolutely thrilled I still have them.

 

[Xraywolf]

Wow, that is a great feeling when you have resigned yourself to a bad loss, then find it later.
Congrats on the jewelry find, great story.

I once found a stash of mine of 30 $100 bills, but in that case I didn't resign myself to the loss because I didn't remember losing that kind of $$, must have been drunk or high back in the day and just clean forgot about it.
I actually did lose $2,000 in 50 dollar bills, had a busted back pocket and I forgot about it and stuck my wallet in after buying pop and smokes. Discovered my loss about an hour later, raced back to the gas station but they were closed and of course no wallet in sight.
Felt sick, I worked 7 12 hr shifts for that, but at least I had no one to blame but myself.

Next day I went to the station around noon, I thought if I was very lucky whoever found it took the cash and maybe tossed the wallet away and at least I might get my ID back. Went in and the attendant was on the phone, said can I help you ? I said I was wondering if you found a wallet laying around. He said hold on and finished his convo [he was a muslim guy and talking in arabic]. So he says, you lost a wallet ? I said yep. He says when ? I said about 10:30 last night.
He said what did it look like ? I said black with an iron cross on it and a chain. He said what was in it ? I said $2,000 in $50 bills. I'll be damned if he didn't walk over to his safe, open it up and handed me my wallet. I checked and everything was there including the $$.

I was blown away, was not even sure I could do the same thing myself. I offered him $500 on the spot as thanks but he said thank you but I cannot accept any $$ [knew right away it was a faith thing], so I didn't try any more, thanked him profusely and left.
I went to an arab bakery and bought like a huge $100 plate of pastries [and they do make some great sweets]. Went back there, put it on the counter and said, have a baklava on me ! He did accept that ,, And I still wonder to this day if I could do that.

If I saw someone drop something, a wallet or whatever, I would for sure let them know, and have done it before. But just finding something like that that some absent minded idiot dropped, I don't know.

 

[BigWaveDave]

I don't recall ever losing anything.....
But my idiot ex-wife flushed both her wedding and engagement rings down the toilet.
Idiot.