THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, November 1, 1995            TAG: 9510310105
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   54 lines

SHE SEEMS TO LOSE HER WEDDING RINGS SUSAN WELLS WAS OVERJOYED WHEN ONE RECENTLY TURNED UP.

Susan Wells has been married for two years but is already working on her third diamond ring.

Wells' first diamond fell out of its setting last year and was found two days later on the bedroom floor.

The same solitaire turned up missing in May. A friend noticed the absent stone while standing next to Wells when she was making copies at an office supply store.

``She yelled, `Oh my God, your diamond's gone!' '' said Wells, a Hilltop resident. ``I freaked out. I cried. The whole staff was on their knees looking for it. Forty-five minutes later, we gave up.''

Wells, 25, wasn't sure where she lost the diamond the second time. Her job as an apartment complex manager requires her to be in several places, both inside and out, during the day.

She couldn't be sure that the diamond hadn't fallen from its setting somewhere in the apartment complex's wooded grounds.

Nevertheless, she left her name and number with the employees at Standard Office Supply in Hilltop.

That was about five months ago.

Last week, Wells got a call from an excited office supply employee.

On Thursday, the store's manager Regina Shackleford and employee Barbara Dunleavy moved the copy machine to a more accessible location. When Dunleavy went to clean where the machine had been, she saw Wells' glittering 1/2-carat diamond on the floor.

``There was no question about whose it was. We all remembered the day she lost it,'' said Shackleford, adding that Wells was a frequent customer of the office supply store. ``We were thrilled. There was no question who it belonged to.''

Shackleford called Wells who came to pick up the loose diamond the next day.

``I thought it was cool. They were just as excited as I was,'' said Wells.

Wells had waited a month with no word on the lost diamond before she decided to buy another round 1/2-carat engagement ring.

She plans to trade in her newly found diamond for a diamond wedding band wrap. Although, she admitted, ``I don't have much luck with diamonds.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS

Susan Wells holds her twice-lost half-carat diamond, most recently

recovered at Standard Office and Supply. ``They were just as excited

as I was,'' said Wells.

by CNB