4 days ago
Woman Loses $10K Wedding Ring in the Ocean—She Knows What To Do
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A Missouri nurse's beach vacation turned into an underwater treasure hunt when she lost her $10,000 wedding ring off the Florida coast—and miraculously found it hours later in the ocean's depths.
Sarah Maune, known as Sarah Kraffty on social media, is a 32-year-old nurse from the city of Washington in Missouri; she also shares recipe content online. The dramatic incident, which took place in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Maune told Newsweek, was recounted in a video shared on her TikTok account @sarahkraffty.
The footage, posted on June 4 and now viewed over 6.8 million times, begins with her standing on the beach, saying: "Going to find my missing wedding ring in the ocean."
The video then cuts to scenes of Maune diving repeatedly beneath the waves in search of the precious piece of jewelry. After several attempts and emerging empty-handed, she finally spots a glimmer beneath the water. "Oh my God. I found it, I can't believe I found it," she says, placing the ring back on her finger before resurfacing.
A screengrab shows Sarah Maune standing on a beach, holding her hand up to show the ring missing on her finger.
A screengrab shows Sarah Maune standing on a beach, holding her hand up to show the ring missing on her finger.
@sarahkraffty on TikTok
The luxury jewelry market—particularly rings—continues to flourish globally. A report by market research firm Grand View Research estimated the luxury jewelry market's value to be at $49.1 billion and projected it to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.7 percent from 2025 to 2030.
"Rings dominated the market with the largest revenue share in 2024," the report said. "Rings hold significant emotional and symbolic value and are commonly used for engagements, weddings, and other meaningful life occasions."
Maune told Newsweek the viral video was filmed on May 31 during a family trip to the small seaside town. She had lost the ring "while snorkeling out to the coral reef and noticed, when we got back to the beach, it was gone off my finger," she said. "I forgot it was on my finger from the morning when we went out to breakfast."
The ring, Maune said, carries deep emotional weight. "My wedding ring was bought by my high-school sweetheart! He worked multiple jobs and as a farm hand at that time. It's worth around $10,000 but more sentimentally to me."
Determined not to lose the symbol of her relationship, Maune launched her own underwater recovery mission. "I was out snorkeling for multiple hours. I had my GoPro and just decided to film searching for it … I stayed calm and tried not to panic," she said.
"I had a general area I knew where I lost it. I could tell where I entered the water by where I put my stuff down on the beach and just tried to retrace my steps out to the coral reef," Maune added.
The successful recovery came only after hours of effort. "By the time I found the ring, I was in the water for quite a while. It was actually my second swim to the buoy where the reef was, about 100 yards offshore," Maune said. "I was tired but not giving up. The day before, I spotted a black-tip reef shark, and the day I lost it, someone spotted a hammerhead shark. I was extra-cautious."
The moment of discovery was nearly as unexpected as the loss. "I picked up so many shells and I thought it was going to be another shell," Maune said. However, she later "spotted something that caught my eye and couldn't believe I found it."
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