When Isabel Lahn-Schroeder crossed the finish line of the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon, she had just set a personal record. Then she realized her engagement ring was gone.
According to ABC Eyewitness News 7 (VIDEO), Lahn-Schroeder, a social worker at Lenox Hill Hospital, believed she lost the ring somewhere around mile ten, near Central Park South. The ring — a multi-stone flower design — was a family heirloom that had been converted from a tie clasp and passed down through her fiancé’s family for generations. She retraced her steps, checked lost and found, and visited the local police precinct. Nothing.
Her story aired on Eyewitness News on March 25.
The next day, New York’s famed Diamond District heard her.
Zak Nissanov of Big Apple Jewels reached out with an offer to make a free replica of the ring. “What we’d like to do is make you a replica of the exact same ring that you lost without any pay. We’re happy that you came out to New York, ran the marathon and it’s an opportunity for us to take part in your special day,” Nissanov told WABC. The follow-up report aired March 26. (VIDEO)
“Very nice, very generous,” said Liz Cho of Eyewitness News’ Liz Cho. “Yes, way to go Big Apple Jewels,” added Eyewitness News anchor Joe Torres.
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Takeaway for independent jewelers: Big Apple Jewels didn’t manufacture this story — they just paid attention to local news and acted. The gesture was genuine, the cost was manageable, and the result was a television segment on a major-market ABC affiliate. Local news outlets are always looking for feel-good follow-ups to emotional stories. Is there a lost heirloom, a cash-strapped couple, a community member in need somewhere in your market right now? Your store has skills and resources that can make a real difference — and the kind of goodwill that no ad buy can replicate.
