Customs officer Sharmette Pond cannot believe her luck after being reunited with the gold ring she lost about 12 years ago.

The 40-year-old was at work on Friday afternoon when she received a call saying sheet metal worker Mike Hatfield, who works for Bermuda Air Conditioning, had stumbled across the ring on the sidewalk.

The Devonshire woman said she bought the ring in about 1991 for more than $100 after the Customs department had them designed purely for staff.

She had hers custom-designed with an aquamarine stone in the middle, which was surrounded in gold and had the words ‘HM Customs Bermuda' inscribed on it. Underneath the stone was also an inscription of the Queen's crown.

But because Ms Pond had had her initials, SDP, placed inside the ring, Customs was able to trace the piece of jewellery back to her when Mr. Hatfield took it along on Hallowe'en.

“I was house sitting at a friend's house in Friswell's Hill about 12 years' ago and just after that I realised that the ring was missing,” said Ms Pond.

“I didn't remember taking it off or anything like that and I checked in her house and mine, but was never able to find it again. I just forgot about it.

“But on Friday last week, a gentleman spoke to someone at Customs reception and said he had found the ring. It had the initials ‘SDP' inside and she looked on the staffing list and matched them up to me.

“I was shocked when I heard someone had found it, but it was so nice when Mr. Hatfield came to my job to bring the ring. I never thought I would see it again. I was delighted. I will cherish it for a long time.”

But Ms Pond said the most shocking thing was that the ring was in excellent condition. She added: “It looked brand new still. It's not bent out of shape and there are no scratches on it. My initials inside are not even worn. Where ever it has been, it has been well looked after.”

Mr. Hatfield, who was working on the new Atlantis apartment building, said he was talking on his cell phone near to the junction of Victoria and Parliament Street in Hamilton on Friday afternoon when he spotted the ring on the sidewalk as he “paced” up and down.

“I looked down and there it was,” he said. “But I don't think it had been there for 12 years because it was in beautiful condition and it wasn't scratched or anything.

“I think somebody must have had it in that time and somehow it got left on the sidewalk recently. It can't have been there long, anyway, because that area gets lots of traffic and somebody would have spotted it.

“I called Customs and they were able to trace it back to its owner. Ms Pond called me and she was very excited. She was very happy to see it, which was cool. It made me feel real good.”