Lost things

[Circe]

A place to complain about the items gone astray in your life.

Since Hangout tends to see at least a couple of "help me find my X!" posts every month, I figured making a consolidation thread couldn't hurt ... also, I need to vent and whine and moan to people who'll understand.

Okay, so in July, I lost a ruby ring at my in-laws house. I had it when I showered that night, 'cause I remember taking it off, but the next morning it was nowhere to be found. I still have hope, but because I whined so much, my husband has taken to referring to it as "the ring that was destroyed in a terrible fire that thankfully didn't touch anything else," just because he wants me to get over it already.

Last Thursday, I got a bracelet I'd ordered from Etsy - pearls and sapphires, very deco. Also, my best friend got tenure, so it was a good night! When I was putting the baby down, the bracelet fell off, so I put it back on, made a mental note to tighten the clasp before I went out, popped the champagne, and celebrated! And an hour later, it was GONE. Seriously, I've looked EVERYWHERE.

This morning, I went to put on my beloved ivy leaf pendant ... and, boom, a kite-shaped sapphire and one of the OMCs on the stem are missing. I spent some time looking before deciding it was fruitless ... I mean, I had it this weekend when I went upstate, for goodness sake. They could be anywhere between here and New Paltz. But it just feels so unfair - it's a necklace! It's not like it was getting heavy abuse! And finding a 4X3 diamond/kite shaped sapphire is going to be a real bitch-kitty of a job.

DEAR HOUSE ELVES I WOULD LIKE MY THINGS BACK PLEASE THANK YOU.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Circe, sometimes I swear you read my mind.

I rarely (as in a few times a year) wear necklaces, but somehow I have a bunch of them. When I was in Hawaii a couple of years ago I bought one of those ubiquitous flower pendants, super tiny with an ever super tinier diamond in the center, and I had it on a gold chain. Once I wore the thing -- ONCE, I say! -- and just yesterday I wanted to wear it again. Necklace is MIA. All my jewelry resides in a couple of plastic fishing tackle boxes. Everything comes OUT of there and everything goes back IN there. So where is my damn necklace?!?

 

[minousbijoux]

I am sorry Circe and Dee*Jay. I HATE it when things go missing and just want to obsess about it until I find whatever it is, so I feel for both of you.

I once heard someone surmising that socks that go missing are reincarnated as those wire hangers in our closets; I'm wondering now if there isn't some kind of corollary for disappeared jewelry?

 

[GemFever]

"the ring that was destroyed in a terrible fire that thankfully didn't touch anything else,"

lol! that sounds like a fun sense of humor

I have nothing lost to report at the moment (knocking on wood, obviously). I did once take off a dangly amber & silver earring when crossing a long and windy bridge, for fear that the earring would fall out of my ear and into the river below. I must have put it in my pocket, from whence it later escaped unnoticed. So I was over cautious and ended up losing it.

 

[OreoRosies86]

When I was a year out of school my first "grown up" jewelry purchase was a pair of diamond studs, promptly take from my dresser during a party. To this day I still stare a la Larry David whenever I encounter someone sporting a pair of diamond studs.

 

[JewelFreak]

I once heard someone surmising that socks that go missing are reincarnated as those wire hangers in our closets; I'm wondering now if there isn't some kind of corollary for disappeared jewelry?

Hope your ring turns up, Circe. Sad.

I lost a lovely green tourmaline from a ring. I knew the prongs were loose, took it to a jeweler who said they were fine, so I wore it. (Before I realized some jewelers don't know what they're talking about.) We spent the day at vintage-car races & in the afternoon I noticed I wore an empty halo on my finger. Retraced every step I could remember, but it had vanished. I moaned so long, DH finally threatened to strangle me if I ever said "lost tourmaline" again.

Worse -- in Japan on a business trip I bought really nice pearl earrings. Came home, unpacked, cleaned up. No earrings. Nowhere. After tearing everything apart for 2 days, the only thing I could figure was that I had wrapped them in kleenex to pack & probably forgotten they were there when I threw the kleenex away. Trash had already been collected. How STUPID is that? Buy earrings and throw. them. away.

--- Laurie

 

[iluvshinythings]

It just drives me crazy to lose anything. I obsess over it no matter what it is. I'm currently missing a pair of tiny diamond huggie earrings. I bought them many years ago and they weren't crazy expensive but I really liked them and now they are out of my price range for something I only wear once in a while. I remember taking them on a trip and don't know if I saw them after that. They are probably stuck in the corner of a bag somewhere but for the life of me I can't find them.

 

[Dee*Jay]

I once heard someone surmising that socks that go missing are reincarnated as those wire hangers in our closets; I'm wondering now if there isn't some kind of corollary for disappeared jewelry?

Hope your ring turns up, Circe. Sad.

I lost a lovely green tourmaline from a ring. I knew the prongs were loose, took it to a jeweler who said they were fine, so I wore it. (Before I realized some jewelers don't know what they're talking about.) We spent the day at vintage-car races & in the afternoon I noticed I wore an empty halo on my finger. Retraced every step I could remember, but it had vanished. I moaned so long, DH finally threatened to strangle me if I ever said "lost tourmaline" again.

Worse -- in Japan on a business trip I bought really nice pearl earrings. Came home, unpacked, cleaned up. No earrings. Nowhere. After tearing everything apart for 2 days, the only thing I could figure was that I had wrapped them in kleenex to pack & probably forgotten they were there when I threw the kleenex away. Trash had already been collected. How STUPID is that? Buy earrings and throw. them. away.

--- Laurie

Don't beat yourself up! I did something similar with a ring I bought in Aspen. It wasn't very expensive but I liked it quite a lot. Instead of just wearing it, because it had a very thin shank and I was afraid I might bend it lifting my heavy suitcase into the overhead bin, I think I somehow left it on the bed and I didn't see it because it was in a white bag and the bag blended in with the white sheets. 'Twas a cute little ring...

 

[Smith1942]

Dee Jay - you say all your jewellery goes right back into your fishing box. BUT, I bet when you took your necklace off, you might have been in a hurry (say, if changing for the gym) or you were too tired to put it away properly, and I'd venture to suggest that you absent-mindedly laid it down elsewhere. I have done this - once placed a ring on a high shelf, out of view.

So, think back to when you were changing your clothes, or when you were getting ready for bed. Do you remember taking the necklace off?

Alternatively, maybe you put it in a fishing compartment along with another thing, instead of in a compartment alone, and you can't see it because it's camouflaged with the other?

What was the clasp like? Is it possible that it just fell off?

 

[Smith1942]

Things that went missing. BAHHHHHHHH!

That's how I feel about it.

I had a beautiful diamond baguette eternity ring that I bought in Aruba. I lost it in a hotel in Galway, Ireland. I'm pretty sure that I saw it on the vanity unit and I distinctly remember saying to myself, I'll put that on after breakfast. When I went back to my room to clean my teeth, it had gone. I can only think that housekeeping entered the room, saw it and took it. I asked the hotel, of course, and they denied all knowledge.

Then, I had a cleaning service one year when I was working two jobs. Our regular lady was lovely. However, she would regularly bring with her very young trainees. I don't think it was ever the same one, but they were always really sullen, never smiled, etc. During that period, my mother came to stay and her 22k gold filigree ring that I'd bought her in Bahrain disappeared, and I later found out that my Tiffany silver and pearl earrings that I wore on my wedding day had also gone. Now, I can assure you, they are truly gone. Since then, I have pulled each room and every closet apart in the house twice for major spring-cleaning. No item, no drawer, no piece of furniture has gone untouched. I even pulled the fridge out to vacuum the filter. Those two pieces of jewellery have vanished. When I spring-clean, I pull out the beds, sofas, and get behind everything, and literally every drawer, closet and cupboard in the house has been fully emptied, twice.

Also, we were not wearing the jewellery around that time. I rarely wore those earrings but they could have been on my dresser. And my mum said that she realised the ring was too small while in our house, so she didn't wear it during the trip.

Those items disappeared from the house. I can only think that it was one of those trainees. We rarely have people in our house as we don't really entertain.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Dee Jay - you say all your jewellery goes right back into your fishing box. BUT, I bet when you took your necklace off, you might have been in a hurry (say, if changing for the gym) or you were too tired to put it away properly, and I'd venture to suggest that you absent-mindedly laid it down elsewhere. I have done this - once placed a ring on a high shelf, out of view.

So, think back to when you were changing your clothes, or when you were getting ready for bed. Do you remember taking the necklace off?

Alternatively, maybe you put it in a fishing compartment along with another thing, instead of in a compartment alone, and you can't see it because it's camouflaged with the other?

What was the clasp like? Is it possible that it just fell off?

Smith, I'm sure you're right that I just didn't put it away properly... The last (only!) time I remember wearing it I was living in Kansas City, which was an out-of-sorts experience anyway, so I may very well have taken it off and mis-laid it. I had an idea at one point that I may have put it in a particular wooden box that I have (no idea why I would have done that, but what would make me think it if it wasn't a possibility??), however it's not there either. Based on your suggestion though I am going to take every single thing out of the tackle boxes and see if maybe it's in with something else and I'm just missing it. Thank you for the good ideas!

 

[Dee*Jay]

A place to complain about the items gone astray in your life.

Since Hangout tends to see at least a couple of "help me find my X!" posts every month, I figured making a consolidation thread couldn't hurt ... also, I need to vent and whine and moan to people who'll understand.

Okay, so in July, I lost a ruby ring at my in-laws house. I had it when I showered that night, 'cause I remember taking it off, but the next morning it was nowhere to be found. I still have hope, but because I whined so much, my husband has taken to referring to it as "the ring that was destroyed in a terrible fire that thankfully didn't touch anything else," just because he wants me to get over it already.

Last Thursday, I got a bracelet I'd ordered from Etsy - pearls and sapphires, very deco. Also, my best friend got tenure, so it was a good night! When I was putting the baby down, the bracelet fell off, so I put it back on, made a mental note to tighten the clasp before I went out, popped the champagne, and celebrated! And an hour later, it was GONE. Seriously, I've looked EVERYWHERE.

This morning, I went to put on my beloved ivy leaf pendant ... and, boom, a kite-shaped sapphire and one of the OMCs on the stem are missing. I spent some time looking before deciding it was fruitless ... I mean, I had it this weekend when I went upstate, for goodness sake. They could be anywhere between here and New Paltz. But it just feels so unfair - it's a necklace! It's not like it was getting heavy abuse! And finding a 4X3 diamond/kite shaped sapphire is going to be a real bitch-kitty of a job.

DEAR HOUSE ELVES I WOULD LIKE MY THINGS BACK PLEASE THANK YOU.

I once lost a stone out of my eternity band on the same day I went to a street fair. I assumed it was gone forever and A YEAR LATER I came home one day and there was an 8-1/2 X 11" piece of paper on the dining room table, left by the cleaning lady, with my .35 ct stone on it. I'm hoping your missing jewels turn up too -- you just never know!

(Boy, in reading my posts I sound like a careless nimwit... lost necklace, ring left behind, eternity band stone... I swear I am very careful with my things!)

 

[Amber St. Clare]

I am STILL looking for my white topaz eaarrings that ere 1 cts. EACH. They looked lke ice cubes. I have ripped apart the entire house and they have gone with the wind. They were really dramatic and special as I have a ring the same carat size and a pendant.

I just recently lost a cz tennis bracelet which sorry about, but not nearly as sorry as those earrings.

 

[Indylady]

My first ever CS ring was a ruby cut by Barry in a 14k diamond pave setting I loved that ring like nothing else. LOVED IT. I took it off one day at dinner at a family friend's home, and tucked it into my purse. Never saw it again--I looked for it later that night, but couldn't find it anywhere at all. Its been 3 years, and I don't think about it often, but I still do sometimes.

And, my first pair of diamond studs. .25 tcw, but they were gorgeous and a gift from my parents. So sad. No idea where those could be either. I can't remember "when" I lost them.

 

[LLJsmom]

Missing my fun LV acrylic RHR. Totally fun and impractical, but gone. Took it off at work. Stupid.

 

[Polished]

I had a diamond cluster ring that I'd worn for quite a few years and one day I realised I hadn't seen it in ages. I looked everywhere and finally concluded that my son had gone through a stage of being friends with a rather dodgy sister and brother pair and that it was most likely one of them who had taken it.

Then one day I had a revelation. That ring was no more. It had been pulled apart, the small diamonds had been used to surround a sapphire that had come from my mother. The centre diamond had been placed into a small solitaire ring. I put my head in my hands and had a "how could you be so monumentally stupid" moment where apparently I suffer memory loss and can't handle a piece of jewelery undergoing a radical change of identity.

 

[dk168]

I lost my mum's 5-stone wedding ring many years ago, probably threw it away when it was sandwiched between glossy magazines while I was tidying my room for summer vacation.

I lost the centre stone, a fine imperial jade, of yet another one of my mum's ring, during a work related function, and I was too drunk to realise it had gone until about 03:00h in the morning. I went down to the function room where the event was held to look for it, even emptied out the vacuum cleaner, without success. Mum was philosophical about it though, as jade is supposed to protect the wearer, in that losing the jade probably had saved myself some bad luck later on.

The most recent loss was one of the side stones of my 3-stone ruby ring. The side stones were originally a pair of dangling earrings that my mum gave to me when I was young, set in yellow gold, both stones selected from the same parcel. I recycled them as I no longer wear yellow gold. I thought it would be difficult to find a match for the remaining stone, however, the local jewellery who repaired my ring did an excellent job with the replacement diamond, as I could not tell or remember which side stone is the new stone.

DK

 

[iLander]

Hair pins!

Honestly, where do they go?!!!

I use them to pin up my hair when gardening and I buy them in packs of 180.

180.

That's a LOT.

I am down to 5. Yes, 5!

I have bought multiple packs of these throughout my life. They used to come in packs of 300. I would "run out" and have to buy more.

Where are the little buggers? How is this happening? I never come across a little nest of them in a closet or under a rug. Whenever we move, I keep an eye out, and walk through the empty house looking. No hairpins! It is inconceivable!

I know this thread was about precious things lost, but frankly this has bugged me since I was 12 (and first started with hair pins), so I had to get it off my chest.

 

[missy]

Hair pins!

Honestly, where do they go?!!!

I use them to pin up my hair when gardening and I buy them in packs of 180.

180.

That's a LOT.

I am down to 5. Yes, 5!

I have bought multiple packs of these throughout my life. They used to come in packs of 300. I would "run out" and have to buy more.

Where are the little buggers? How is this happening? I never come across a little nest of them in a closet or under a rug. Whenever we move, I keep an eye out, and walk through the empty house looking. No hairpins! It is inconceivable!

I know this thread was about precious things lost, but frankly this has bugged me since I was 12 (and first started with hair pins), so I had to get it off my chest.

LOL totally with you on this. I have lost more hairpins and barrettes than I can count.

Lost precious things-in 1995 I was hiking somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness (so pretty) and I lost my favorite white and yellow gold bracelet that had been a gift from my parents. So upset because it was very unique and I haven't seen anything like it since (though to be honest my memory sort of sucks and I cannot even picture it anymore).

And more recently I lost a vintage tricolor gold hoop earring somewhere in my neighborhood while my dh and I were just walking around. I had just left a jeweler who cleaned my rings and checked out my necklace so I thought when I took my necklace off to show the jeweler the hoop fell off but we went back and nada. We also scoured the streets but didn't find it. I was sad not because it was expensive but because I hate losing stuff and what the heck am I going to do with just one gold hoop? Plus I was mad at myself because the latch was not working quite right and I should never have worn them until I got it fixed.

Circe, I hope you find that ruby ring. It's gotta be in your IL's house somewhere and sure to turn up! I once misplaced a pair of RX sunglasses and found it over a year later. I had put it in a draw I just never ever use so not sure how that happened except perhaps I thought I was putting it somewhere safe and that's always where I run into trouble- when I put something away where I think it will be *safe* haha.

I hope everyone finds their precious lost items. I comfort myself re the lost bracelet that at least my bracelet is out in the beautiful Alaskan wilderness enjoy the peace and tranquility. I have an active imagination.

 

[JewelFreak]

They're with the single socks that morphed into wire hangers, iLander.

--- Laurie

 

[Andelain]

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

 

[missy]

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

Haha, yes I am +1 ing on this clever and oh so true answer.
Only thing is as I'm losing my memory/mind I am missing it less and less cause I cannot remember what I am losing.

 

[chrono]

I am still saddened over the loss but after more than 15 years, can look back at it without too much pain. I flushed one of my 22kt yellow gold wedding gift bracelets down the toilet bowl. Yes, down the toilet bowl, folks. I did not realize that the bracelet had fallen off my wrist. I also have very poor eye-sight and who wears their spectacles in the bathroom anyway? I look down and see "something" in the toilet bowl so I flushed it automatically. Later that night, I realized my bracelet is missing and in re-tracing my steps, I figured that the "something" in the toilet bowl that I flushed was the missing gold bracelet wedding gift.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I once lost a stone out of my eternity band on the same day I went to a street fair. I assumed it was gone forever and A YEAR LATER I came home one day and there was an 8-1/2 X 11" piece of paper on the dining room table, left by the cleaning lady, with my .35 ct stone on it. I'm hoping your missing jewels turn up too -- you just never know!

(Boy, in reading my posts I sound like a careless nimwit... lost necklace, ring left behind, eternity band stone... I swear I am very careful with my things!)

Yay for your honest cleaning lady, Dee Jay!

I'm so paranoid of loosing jewelry at this point I'm considering putting almost everything in my safe deposit box so I only have my earrings, wedding set, and my watch to keep track of!

 

[luv2sparkle]

About a year ago I lost a gold band ring. It was made by a company called Imperial Gold and was intricately made with little tiny pieces. It as a lovely mesh kind of style. I wore it to bed one night by mistake and I remember waking up in the middle of the night an putting it on my nightstand. That is the last I saw of it. I have torn up everything looking for it. Gone. I went to Ebay a few months ago and bought another similar one. The new one is tri-color gold and the other was just solid yellow. It was my alternate wedding band. I would still love to find it.

 

[SB621]

Funny I should see this post today as I have spent a good portion of the day panicing over an almost 2 ct diamond that I dropped in my kitchen. 7 hours and counting later I'm still trying to find out where it went.

 

[Circe]

Funny I should see this post today as I have spent a good portion of the day panicing over an almost 2 ct diamond that I dropped in my kitchen. 7 hours and counting later I'm still trying to find out where it went.

Get a flashlight and sweep it over every crevice with no other lights on - it works 99% of the time.

The other 1%, the universe is messing with you.

 

[GlamMosher]

I had a lovely (pre PS) CZ and yellow gold pendant on a yellow gold snake chain. I only wore it go out, it wasn't an everyday necklace. One day i went to wear it, and gone! Every now and then I think it MUST be here, so I tear my bedroom and walk in robe apart but nothing. I have asked my mum and all my friends if by chance I lent it to them, but no.

I know it was CZ but I bought it at Rosendorff here in Perth when I worked at the airport and they had a store there. I was square (not sure of cut now), quite large and set kite shape. Thinking about it, I should accept it is gone and claim it on insurance. I must see if I can find a photo of me wearing it as I wouldn't even know where to get a quote for replacement now. Rosendorffs don't sell them now.

 

[monarch64]

About a year ago I lost a gold band ring. It was made by a company called Imperial Gold and was intricately made with little tiny pieces. It as a lovely mesh kind of style. I wore it to bed one night by mistake and I remember waking up in the middle of the night an putting it on my nightstand. That is the last I saw of it. I have torn up everything looking for it. Gone. I went to Ebay a few months ago and bought another similar one. The new one is tri-color gold and the other was just solid yellow. It was my alternate wedding band. I would still love to find it.

I thought that name looked familiar. Sure enough, I googled it and the ebay page came up with a bunch of listings. I remembered it because I have a bracelet made by them! I never wear it anymore, but it was really sparkly and one of the most comfortable pieces of jewelry I've ever worn. I bet the rings are comfy, too!

 

[KaeKae]

I've lost two yellow gold earrings in the past month. ( This is what happens when I put my studs in the safe deposit box, others are worn, and without safety backs, at risk.)

The first is a little gold knot, like the Irish trinity knot. I wore them one day, took them off, put them in the same dish I always put them, next to my jewelry box. The next time I went to wear them, one was gone. I'm still hopeful it will show up. I've had these earrings since high school.

The second is a gold hoop. I was at a band competition with DD, and changed my shirt in the bus bathroom, when it started to cool off (this was in Vegas, it was hot during the day, cold at night.) Unfortunately, I didn't realize the earring was missing until hours later, and didn't make the connection with changing the shirt until days later.