I found a valuable ring...NOW what do I do???

KillarneyRose · #1 10-04-2002, 06:15 PM

Two weeks ago, I had a company come in and clean all the vents in our house. One of the things the cleaner pulled out (among the pacifiers, sippy cups, millions of paper clips, etc...) was a beautiful gold ring with a large green stone and a smaller clear stones on either side. I thought it was pretty and a few days later, on a whim, decided to take it to my jeweler to have it appraised. I wasn't really expecting it to be worth anything but what the heck...

Today I got the ring back. It turns out that the ring is a 2.2 carat emerald-cut emerald set in 18k gold and the stones on either side are diamonds. It was appraised at $3,900.00

Now....what do I do????? I have no idea who the ring belongs to; we are the third owners of my house. I don't even know where I would find any of the previous owners. Even if I did, the ring was probably insured and the person who lost it was probably reimbursed, right? Help! I personally would love to keep it and have the stones re-set but I have this nagging feeling that that is not the "right thing" to do. I'm about to throw the darn thing back into the floor vent!

sororitygirl2 · #2 10-04-2002, 06:19 PM

If you have made a good faith effort to track the previous owners down to no avail, I think it is perfectly all right for you to keep the ring or have the stones reset.

three2tango · #3 10-04-2002, 06:38 PM

It's mine, I left it there. Please return it, I have not slept in ummm months.

Seriously, keep it and enjoy it. No matter its' value it just isn't that big of a deal. I am sure its' owner misses it but you found it in YOUR home. It would take too long to locate the owner and it isn't that important. If you feel really bad I just saw a really compelling episode of Oprah about the way middle eastern women are treated. It would cost 25 bucks a month to help them. Sell the ring on ebay and donate the money to this worthy cause.

www.oprah.com

Dionysus · #4 10-04-2002, 07:19 PM

Do the right thing: Pawn it!

J/K

James · #5 10-04-2002, 09:03 PM

I would never keep it . . what kind of evil of loser would that make me be?

I would make an intense effort to find the original owners. If I was unable to find them . . . which would be wierd because I am pretty bright lol, I would either find a worthy person (not afriend or relative), to give it to or cash it in and donate the proceeds to charity.

I am surprised and shocked at most of you to suggest keeping it! What does that say about the so-called Greek-Values that y'all prattle about all the time?

Quote:

Originally posted by KillarneyRose
Two weeks ago, I had a company come in and clean all the vents in our house. One of the things the cleaner pulled out (among the pacifiers, sippy cups, millions of paper clips, etc...) was a beautiful gold ring with a large green stone and a smaller clear stones on either side. I thought it was pretty and a few days later, on a whim, decided to take it to my jeweler to have it appraised. I wasn't really expecting it to be worth anything but what the heck...

Today I got the ring back. It turns out that the ring is a 2.2 carat emerald-cut emerald set in 18k gold and the stones on either side are diamonds. It was appraised at $3,900.00

Now....what do I do????? I have no idea who the ring belongs to; we are the third owners of my house. I don't even know where I would find any of the previous owners. Even if I did, the ring was probably insured and the person who lost it was probably reimbursed, right? Help! I personally would love to keep it and have the stones re-set but I have this nagging feeling that that is not the "right thing" to do. I'm about to throw the darn thing back into the floor vent!

AGDLynn · #6 10-04-2002, 09:30 PM

How old is the house?

Try the 1st owner first, ask them if they lost a ring and what did it look like?

Unfortunately, the 2nd owner might have heard that the 1st owner lost the emerald and tried to pass it off as their's..

I know that I'd feel guilty if I didn't try to find the owner. On the flip side, would someone try to find me?

SoProud2BeAnAlphaXi · #7 10-04-2002, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by James

I am surprised and shocked at most of you to suggest keeping it! What does that say about the so-called Greek-Values that y'all prattle about all the time?

[/B]

I'm with James on this! This is Greekchat, after all, so I would encourage you to consider whether your GLO's ritual or other teachings offers any insight as to how you should handle this situation. This could be a real-life opportunity to walk the talk!

KappaKittyCat · #8 10-04-2002, 09:54 PM

Although I know that James was just trying to stir up trouble... I'd make an effort to find the owner, and after that, I don't know what I'd do. Being rather selfish and a lover of fine jewelry, I'd probably keep it-- especially if it were rubies (my birthstone and favourite gem) or sapphires (the Kappa gem)-- but I'd feel guilty about it.

What a piece of work is man...

three2tango · #9 10-04-2002, 09:57 PM

James, we are moral people......... with priorities. Things that we have in our possesion are not *that* important, they do not define who we are, make us feel loved or "complete" us. Evil, is intentionally causing pain or trouble. Finding the ring was not evil and neither is keeping it. Whoever lost that ring made their peace with losing it long before she found it. (Keep reading I am getting to the good part/point)

If you went to a flea market and bought a grab bag full of goodies for $25.00 and discovered an emerald ring in the bag worth $3,000 would you feel you had a moral obligation to return the ring? Think hard about that now. You hear stories of people like this every week on the Antiques Roadshow. Would you really take the time to track down that vendor and explain to them you got more than you deserved? Well, to me the house is much like that grab bag. When she signed that morgage everything in the house and on that property belongs to her. If she finds a treasure chest full of gold and diamonds it is HERS, the original prototype of Bell's phone it's HERS, strikes oil it's HERS.

KillarnyRose, do whatever you feel best about, keep it, sell it, whatever.......but that ring belongs to YOU GIRL, YOU!

juniorgrrl · #10 10-05-2002, 12:40 AM

To find the previous owners of your house:

Go to your County Clerk of Court (or Recorder of Mortgates or whatever they call the office in MD). They can run a search on your property and the records will be able to show who owned the house before you.

Hope this helps!

Munchkin03 · #11 10-05-2002, 09:50 AM

A flea market is a little different from a house, where there's a record of ownership. Not exactly a "grab bag", now is it?

It may be true that someone has made their peace with losing the ring, but wouldn't it be nice to find out that someone was somewhat altrustic and tried to contact you when they found it? You have NO idea what that ring is--possibly a family heirloom or of high sentimental value. It wouldn't take THAT long at all to find the owners--possibly only a few hours. If it turns out that you can't find the people--at least you tried.

Killarney Rose, doesn't your title have the name and address of the previous owner? Maybe that's on a state-to-state level.

cash78mere · #12 10-05-2002, 01:05 PM

you bought the house and everything in it. what if you found out that the stove didn't work 10 years after you bought the house, would you go find the original owners and make them pay for it? no, because it is YOUR house.

if, when you bought the house, the owners expressed how they lost a ring and if you found it to please return it, then i would say find them. but you don't know who it belonged to and WHEN it was lost. it could have been 100 years ago!

if you just bought the house like months ago, find the old owners. but if you've lived there a long time, don't bother. it will take too much time and effort and possibly money.

it is your house and your possession. enjoy it!

HotDamnImAPhiMu · #13 10-05-2002, 02:27 PM

three2tango, your first post cracked me up.

Uh, does anyone else find it weird that the ring found its way into the vent? I mean, sheesh. If *I* had a beautiful emerald ring surrounded by diamonds I'd sleep in the darn thing.

Of course, I can't find one of my pearl earrings right now, so maybe I'd better go back to quietly reading threads.

doubleblue&gold · #14 10-05-2002, 03:28 PM

File a police report.

There might be someone looking for it and the report might match you up. I think there is a time limit and after a certain time if no one claims it, it's yours.

texas*princess · #15 10-05-2002, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dionysus
Do the right thing: Pawn it!

J/K

hehehe that made me laugh!