A passer-by who found a massive diamond ring worth £50,000-£80,000 outside a Nando’s returned it to its owner in what he described as ‘a fairytale ending’. The finder, Andy, saw the ring’s massive stones sparkling on the ground and decided to do the honourable thing and try to find the owner.
He launched a Facebook campaign to find who he described as the no-doubt ‘distraught owner’ of the ring, and today he met up with the older lady who it belonged to and returned it to her.
Andy said:
‘It’s a fairytale ending and shows just how much good social media can do. I feel like I have done my good deed for the year.’
Andy, 31, a consultant, was contacted by the owner earlier yesterday after he launched a Facebook campaign to find her and an article appeared on MailOnline.
He got into a taxi to meet her and the relative at a London jeweler and staff verified insurance records she held for the ring that proved it belonged to her.
Andy has no idea what the ring is worth but an independent jeweler who saw pictures of the ring on social media said the main stone was as big as 3.5 carats
Sharon Sheard, manager of Hatton Jewels Ltd in London qualified with the Gemological Institute Of America, said that if the ring was to be sold, she believes it could be worth £50,000-£80,000 if the stones in the pictures are diamonds.
He said:
‘I have lost my phone four or five times and mentioned it on social media. Every time I have had it returned to me – it’s like a boomerang.’
Andy said he found the ring in the early hours of the morning outside Nando’s after a night out with friends in the area, spotting it ‘sparkling’ on the ground.
He said:
‘I was stumbling home and thought I might pass some fast food joints seeing what tickled my fancy and it was freezing so I decided to hot-foot it home.
‘I was hunched up with my head down trying to stay warm, and just caught a glint.
‘I always considered myself quite lucky at finding a pound coin on the floor.’
The next day he launched the campaign to find the ring and in the hilarious Facebook post talking about finding the ring:
The same day he launched the campaign, someone got in touch to say that they had found the owner, who he went to meet.
Andy added: ‘She was overjoyed because she had been upset and doesn’t want any attention, but she was very, very pleased to have it back.’
