By James FitzPatrick
Contributing Writer
Your heart is pounding. Your beautiful day on the beach is turning into a nightmare as you realize that your wedding ring is gone.
You try to retrace your steps but it feels hopeless. Much of your path was in the surf and the tide is coming in. You’ve lost the irreplaceable.
Do you search up and down the beach? Maybe you can call your friends to help search, except you’re down the shore on vacation and they’re back at home.
You could run out and buy a metal detector except the nearest web hit for “metal detectors near me” is Dick’s Sporting Goods in Mays Landing. Even if you dropped $150 for a cheap one, do you really know how to use it?
You’re feeling panicked.
Thankfully there is help for people who find themselves in a missing jewelry crisis. It’s called Ring Finders South Jersey.
Founded by John Favano, the expert detectorist and recovery specialist says has more than 200 successful recoveries and counting since he began using his hobby to help people a decade ago.
“You lost it, I will find it,” Favano states on ringfinderssouthjersey.com. “Almost 10 years ago I decided to make metal detecting one of my hobbies. Then I started doing recoveries to help people.
“I started doing this because people often approached me for help finding things while I was out metal detecting on the beaches,” he told Shore Local. “It felt great helping them get their lost and sentimental items back.”
He said seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they are reunited with something they feared had been lost forever brings him joy.
Favano, 47, does metal detecting and jewelry recovery as a hobby. His day job is as a corporate chef,
His website and social media are filled with stories of people who lost, and with Favano’s help, found engagement rings, wedding rings, class rings and other items they feared they would never see again.
Many a bride or bride-to-be cry the moment the successful recovery is revealed.
He’s recovered rings in seemingly impossible conditions including snow, below 10 inches of beach sand, and in the ocean, day or night.
If you lose a valuable item, the first thing you should do is mark the location. Look for a marker that can help you reference your location.
If you are on the beach, don’t move the sand around continuing to search for the lost item. Moving sand will make the ring get buried deeper, Favano said, making it harder to find.
Whatever you do, don’t post about it on social media. Your best bet is to call John.
“People reach out to me by phone, text, email and messenger-calling is always the best,” he told Shore Local. “I ask several questions about how and where the item was lost to get as many details as possible to help me locate their lost ring, cell phone or keys.”
Rings get lost in different ways. They get taken off while applying sunscreen, or fly off during an innocent game of catch with the kids or a quick romp in the surf.
Sometimes items are recovered in a few minutes, sometimes much longer.
Favano grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, resides in North Wilmington and spends his summers in North Wildwood.
He ranges from greater Philadelphia and suburbs to southern New Jersey, Delaware, and the Atlantic and Cape May County shore.
You can call any time day or night at 215-850-0188 and see testimonials and social media links at www.ringfinderssouthjersey.com.
