sharitz
New Member
In the 1870’s, my great great great grandmother emigrated to the USA from Paris, France with a couple of trunks and a diamond ring, and a lot of hope for a new life. Her family was very wealthy and had sent her away when she became pregnant and unwed.
When she died in 1940, at the age of 92, she bequeathed her most prized possession to her oldest granddaughter (My grandmother) . In about 1943, my newlywed grandmother and grandfather moved into a new home in Mill Valley Ca. My grandmother loved to garden and work in her yard. One day, she took off the ring and placed it in her pocket while gardening. Later that day she realized it was gone and had lost it somewhere in her large yard.
I heard my entire life how she spent months and years, sifting through the dirt, searching in vain for her lost diamond ring. She was heartbroken and the ring became a family legend and a story she told us about every single time I saw her…
My grandparents sold the house in Mill Valley in 1979 and moved to a nearby town.
I visited San Francisco last June and brought my Minelab Excalibur to search the beaches in the Bay Area. My cousin Robert reminded me about the Diamond ring our grandmother had lost 65 years before. We went to the house to ask for permission to search and to our surprise, the owners were not only the same people who had bought the house from my grandparents in 1979, but said the yard had not been changed at all during that time.
The first hit I had was a silver Franklin 50 cent!!!! I gave it to the owners. I found a few pieces of trash and a few clad from the 60’s 70’s…. My grandmother must have lost a lot of things out of her pocket gardening through the years!!
After about an hour looking, I got a strong tone next to a rose bush/ I dug down a few inches and it was a tangle of roots. The owners who were excited and watching me since I arrived begged me to rip the plant out! I pulled the rose out, getting cut up in the process..L I ran the detector over the uprooted plant and then noticed on the very edge of the root ball the glimmer of diamonds! I couldn’t believe I was staring at something I had always heard about.
The people were really nice and made us lunch and we exchanged info and still stay in touch.
I went to see my 90 year old grandmother and presented her with the ring… She was so touched and knew immediately it was the ring… even after 65 years. She could not slip it on her swollen old fingers, but enjoyed looking at it a few days before passing it to my mother. My mother now wears it every day and I’m so happy to have returned to my family a ring with so much history. Metal detecting has helped me find friends, some valuables and has been totally rewarding and fun.
When she died in 1940, at the age of 92, she bequeathed her most prized possession to her oldest granddaughter (My grandmother) . In about 1943, my newlywed grandmother and grandfather moved into a new home in Mill Valley Ca. My grandmother loved to garden and work in her yard. One day, she took off the ring and placed it in her pocket while gardening. Later that day she realized it was gone and had lost it somewhere in her large yard.
I heard my entire life how she spent months and years, sifting through the dirt, searching in vain for her lost diamond ring. She was heartbroken and the ring became a family legend and a story she told us about every single time I saw her…
My grandparents sold the house in Mill Valley in 1979 and moved to a nearby town.
I visited San Francisco last June and brought my Minelab Excalibur to search the beaches in the Bay Area. My cousin Robert reminded me about the Diamond ring our grandmother had lost 65 years before. We went to the house to ask for permission to search and to our surprise, the owners were not only the same people who had bought the house from my grandparents in 1979, but said the yard had not been changed at all during that time.
The first hit I had was a silver Franklin 50 cent!!!! I gave it to the owners. I found a few pieces of trash and a few clad from the 60’s 70’s…. My grandmother must have lost a lot of things out of her pocket gardening through the years!!
After about an hour looking, I got a strong tone next to a rose bush/ I dug down a few inches and it was a tangle of roots. The owners who were excited and watching me since I arrived begged me to rip the plant out! I pulled the rose out, getting cut up in the process..L I ran the detector over the uprooted plant and then noticed on the very edge of the root ball the glimmer of diamonds! I couldn’t believe I was staring at something I had always heard about.
The people were really nice and made us lunch and we exchanged info and still stay in touch.
I went to see my 90 year old grandmother and presented her with the ring… She was so touched and knew immediately it was the ring… even after 65 years. She could not slip it on her swollen old fingers, but enjoyed looking at it a few days before passing it to my mother. My mother now wears it every day and I’m so happy to have returned to my family a ring with so much history. Metal detecting has helped me find friends, some valuables and has been totally rewarding and fun.
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