NEED HELP, found $5500 diamond ring!!!!

[Scott (Upstate NY)]

Just do the right thing-that is whatever you won't be ashamed of. Make a reasonable effort to put the owner on notice(public notice, ad etc. without giving enough details that an impostor would steal it) for a reasonable amount of time. If no one claims it, then you can sleep at night knowing you tried to do the right thing. Always try to put yourself in the shoes of the one at loss. Chances are great, anyways that the ring belongs to a tourist and they wouldn't be within distance of your "reasonable" efforts to find them.

What you define as "reasonable" is key.

Good luck

 

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[ivan salis]

the good news is you found a rather valuible ring---the bad news is most of the value is in the "rock" which has a GIA number and is thus "trackible" ---the gold value of the ring is very little --its the rock that makes it worth much $$$ however you WILL get burned if you try to sell it in any way---count on it because sooner or later--even if you private sell it--their going to have it "appraised" for insurance or its going to a hock shop or they will sell it to some else who will do it--it will then be "logged in" & get checked up on ----and when the " red flags" pop up then the "paper" trail will start working its way back to you and will bite you in the tush---so its keep it for "personal use" only or return it and hope for a reward----sadly thats the choices unless your willing to destroy the ring solely for the gold scrap value of the ring which ain't much--(thus throwing away the diamond)----Ivan

 

[Mainedigger]

I noticed a lot of people say "do the right thing" and try to find the owner , But why on earth would I want to do that? If the person who lost it is not smart enough to leave a $5500 ring at home or hide it in there vehicle while they are on the beach, shouldn't make me waste my time tracking them down to return it. My time is more valuable than that. My wifes ring is around the same value, she NEVER takes it to the beach. Its just common sense. If I lost something that valuable, I have no one to blame but myself, and would expect who ever found it to benefit from my stupidity.

Sphinx....here is a scenario for you...your wife leaves her ring at home as you stated...now while she is at the beach without her nice ring, your house is broken into and her ring is stolen. The thief gives it to his girlfriend who promptly loses it at the beach because it doesn't fit just right. someone finds it shortly after with a metal detector. Now...what would your wife want the finder to do?? Think she would appreciate it if the finder tracked her down and returned the ring? Think you would appreciate not having to spend the extra cash that the insurance company didn't cover when you had to buy a replacement ring for your wife? Now what if the ring was your mothers and your daughter lost it?

What you do with the ring is up to you, for you found it and it is your morals and guidlines you live under. I personally would try to find the owner, but that is me and my choice and what you do is your choice. Returning it may get you a nice big fat reward, or it might just get you a halfhearted thank you. Selling it will not get you full value for the stone, but will give you some cash.
What we all do with our finds is up to each of us individually....some keep all their finds and try to find the owners, some sell them. Which route we take is our choice and no one ought to be condemned for either for we all get into this hobby for our own reasons...some as a hobby, others to make money from it.
Regardless of what you do, congrats on a nice find!!!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Hey, just caught up with this thread. Great topic!

I just bought my wife a 1.5 karot diamond ring recently, so this topic "hits home". We paid nearly $20k for it. It was a super specific grade or color or something, + custom made by a designer, so there was cost for that as well. Anyhow, I was surprised when.... we were looking at various stones, when the jeweler showed us the micro-laser mark thing in there (telling country of origin, for instance). It could only been seen under high power magnification, and you had to know where to look. This is a fairly recent technology, and can also be made to inscribe serial #s too, as I understand it.

I've been in this hobby long enough (30 yrs.) to remember a time when this was the stuff of science fiction! The only rings we ever thought we could find the owner of, was class rings (by virtue of initials, school, etc...). All else was OURS, and there was no "feeling bad" about it. (Afterall, that's why we got into the hobby, right )

Aside from laser inscriptions on diamonds, I did hear that insurance companies, when insuring very valuable rings, would put an inscription in the band of the ring. This was years ago, before the laser inscription technology on diamonds I guess. I heard that if you found such a ring with a serial # (plainly visible inside the band), that insurance companies do pay a reward for their return, since they want to recoup from their losses from possibly having paid out to their insured. But now it's gone beyond that, to where a lot more rings, besides obviously engraved ones, can potentially be traced. Strange!

Although I've heard that insurance companies will pay a reward to get their insureds property back from a finder, it presents a big problem: That may only been when it's been admitted "lost" by the owner. You know, like "I lost it on the beach while I was throwing a frisbee" etc... But if you think of it, MOST people don't know when they've lost their ring, barring someone who felt it fling off their hand, etc... How many times have you heard of this scenario: A lady goes to the ladies room, and goes to wash her hands. She accidentally leaves the ring on the sink, and walks off without it. She comes back a minute later, and it's too late! It's gone She reports it "stolen", right? Now think of it: what if she'd actually lost it on the beach 30 minutes before, but only *thinks* she left it in the ladies room? Or how about: a lady puts her ring on a picnic table, with her other beach towel and stuff, for safekeeping, while she swims. The table gets bumped, the ring falls down to the grass or sand below. When the lady gets back, she thinks "It's stolen!".

I have hunted for many gold rings, at the behest of owners, who are sometimes not sure where it is. They only know that at the end of the day, they noticed it was gone. A lot of them may report "stolen", since they may genuinely think so, or are guessing it was, etc.... The point is, whereas YOU AND I may look at our finds as "lost", they may be in the police sytem as "stolen" at a larger percent of the time that we think.

My friend once found a high school class ring at a school yard. He was easily able to trace the ring, since his daughter went to that school, and they had a school year book right there. My friend called that family, got a voice-mail machine, and said something to effect of "hey, I found your ring today. If you want it back, call me to discuss it" (don't remember the exact wording). That night, there was a knock at his door, and it was the POLICE! Seems he was under investigation for extortion, since, it turns out, the ring had been reported stolen. The ring was taken from him, and he never got so much as a thankyou He said that from then on, he was never going to track down owners again (he may have said that half-jokingly, but I can see how some people would mean it sincerely). That was at a time when you could go to the smelt place, and those guys never cared about the initials and school, etc.. But in this day & age of laser inscribed stones, there may be no getting around it. Wierd!

I guess I'd take my chances with trying to trace it, seeing if there's an insurers reward, or owners greatful-heart reward. Not that I need the money, but I do enjoy the extra spending cash, and ....... over the years.... have sold off most of my jewelry. Unless the ring fit my wife, why would I have any need for it anyhow? Other than looking nice in a display case, it doesn't do us finders any good. So I'm one of those people who keeps very little of what he finds, and liquidates the rest from time to time.

Interesting topic! Guess I'll have to think about this more, next time I personally find a larger inscribed diamond. Have never found one larger than 1/3 karot, so it's never been an issue for me, thus far.