‘Needle in a haystack’: Wedding ring recovered after spending two years in Torquay swells

A local man has been reunited with his wedding ring after losing it in the surf two years ago.

David Hamilton lost his wedding ring in the surf out the front of the Torquay surf lifesaving club. Picture: Brad Fleet

A Torquay man is rejoicing after his wedding ring, lost in the ocean two years ago, was found.

David Hamilton lost his ring while surfing at Torquay Surf Beach in December of 2021.

Like the hundreds of others who have lost precious items in the sea, Mr Hamilton believed he would never see the ring again.

“The ring just slipped straight off my finger,” Mr Hamilton said.

“I was devastated, we’d only been married for about a year at that point, so we went back with my sister and her husband and spent hours with a metal detector on low tide trying to find it.

It was found by Geelong Metal Detector's Justin Humphries. Picture: Brad Fleet

“Obviously we didn’t.

“I bought a new ring and everything, I thought she was cactus.”

But, Mr Hamilton and wife Jo didn’t give up hope.

They contacted local prospector Justin Humphries, who is regularly seen at the beach with a metal detector.

“I’d always see this guy with a metal detector down there,” Mr Hamilton said.

“I’d always tell him, ‘my ring’s out there somewhere mate, if you ever come across it’.”

Mr Humphries spends his time going up and down the coast searching for lost jewellery, posting finds on his Facebook page Metal Detector Geelong.

Mr Humphries said Mr Hamilton’s description of the wedding ring never left his mind.

When he discovered a ring matching that description on December 16, only metres from where it originally went missing, Mr Humphries instantly knew who it belonged to.

“It’s pretty cool, I recognised it immediately,” Mr Humphries said.

“It’s pretty unique, it’s got a couple of diamonds in it.

“It’s not like any ring I’ve seen before.”

Mr Humphries said the saga was one of the highlights of his prospecting career.

“It’s definitely up there,” he said.

“Being able to return it and knowing who’s it was, was pretty cool.”

Mr Hamilton said it was “amazing” to receive the call.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

“It was one in a million, I just assumed it had gone to the ocean.

“After hearing about other people who’ve had similar experiences, everyone is like ‘you’re never getting that back’ but then he’s found the needle in the haystack.”

Originally published as ‘Needle in a haystack’: Wedding ring recovered after spending two years in Torquay swells