So you’re wearing your $78,000 diamond engagement ring to the Black Bear Diner in Phoenix. (It could happen, work with me). Before Vera serves you your patty melt, you excuse yourself to ‘powder your nose’, and somewhere in the process your record-breaking rock slips from your finger. And you flush it down the toilet.
And you thought George Michael’s arrest was the worst thing that could happen in a public bathroom?
Every married woman’s nightmare is to lose their diamond ring in a menacing sidewalk grate or a pesky sink drain, but this true-life story takes the cake.
Allison Berry of Eureka, California quickly told the restaurant management and after a failed attempt by the city to flush the ring out, they called in “The Fixer” – aka: Mike Roberts from Mr. Rooter in nearby Tempe.
The Mission Impossible of plumbers guided a tiny video camera into the pipe with an infared light attached and ironically found the ring just three feet away from ‘flush zero’. After an hour-and-a-half of jack-hammering and pipe removal, Roberts recovered the ring like a sewage-stained Excalibur.
A pipe dream come true.
"They always say diamonds are a girl's best friend. In this case, a plumber is a girl's best friend," Roberts said. "She was just so excited, she had tears in her eyes. She gave us a hug and said 'Thank you so much."'
Ms. Berry also paid $5,000 for the plumbing bill and covered the cost of re-tiling the bathroom. She also gave each of those who helped a $400 tip.
And if the Jewelry Insider could be so bold as to give a tip to Ms. Berry? Flush with your right hand next time.