Juliette Applewhite says her husband isn’t the biggest romantic, but he did propose to her 30 years ago on top of a mountain, and surprised her years later by adding diamonds to one of her most prized possessions — her wedding ring.
That’s why she’s fallen a bit to pieces as of late.
When the Half Moon Bay resident traveled down south earlier this month to attend her daughter’s graduation from UC Santa Barbara, her ring didn’t make the return trip.
The ring has been lost since then despite Applewhite’s best efforts to locate it. She’s called everyone she can think of, placed ads in newspapers and on Craigslist, and pestered every jewelry or pawnshop in the Santa Barbara region.
She hopes telling her story might draw somebody out of the woodwork with good news.
She’s also offering a $5,000 reward to the person who finds it.
“It could’ve been stolen out of the (Santa Barbara) house that we were renting,” Applewhite said. “The other option was I took it off when we were on our way to dinner at Kahuna Grill.
“I think somebody found it. I’m just hoping someone found it.”
Applewhite described the ring as one with diamonds and sapphires around the band, each diamond more than a carat.
Her husband had the wedding and engagement rings soldered together to suit her active lifestyle.
She never takes the ring off, but thinks she might’ve placed it on her lap while rearranging items in her car dashboard on June 12 in the parking lot of Camino Real Marketplace while grabbing food at Kahuna Grill.
Applewhite didn’t notice it was missing until the following day before one of her four daughters graduated with a marine sciences degree.
Camino Real Marketplace officials even sent a team to forage for the ring.
“I’m very grateful to Santa Barbara,” Applewhite said. “I just want my ring back.”
Her husband of 26 years, lauded as the kindest man she’s ever met, wasn’t fretting the loss this week.
“He said, ‘I have my wife and that’s the most important thing,’” a tearful Applewhite said. “’My wife will wear a ring.’”
Anyone with information on the ring’s whereabouts can email Applewhite at jbapplewhite@gmail.com, and she’ll be down in a heartbeat.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.