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Diamond Not Left As Tip at Starbucks

Posted on: Tuesday, 19 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

It turns out that the service at the local Starbucks wasn't that good after all.

A 1-carat diamond ring left in the coffeehouse tip jar was determined to be a mistake and the jewelry was returned to actress Audrae Stephen, 42, who had accidentally dropped it there June 27.

Stephen got her diamond back after showing the appraisal she had gotten after her husband, Bob, gave her the ring 17 years ago. The description was an exact fit for the ring police had been holding for more than a month and a half.

"I was very grateful it was returned to me," Stephen said. "It has so much sentimental value to me."

The coffeehouse staff thought the unusual tip might be a piece of costume jewelry until another regular, a jeweler, examined it and told them it was real and worth an estimated $5,000. The ring was then turned over to police.

Stephen said she didn't miss the ring for a week because she hadn't been wearing it for a while. Police later publicized the tip-jar ring, but by then Stephen and her husband were on vacation in Italy.

Stephen's mother, however, read a newspaper account of the ring and notified her daughter.

Stephen said she thinks she must have let the ring get mixed in with some loose change that she used for her tip at the coffeehouse.

"I guess I got a little careless," she said.

Stephen said she and her husband are now trying to think of some way of thanking the Starbucks staff for their help and honesty. "The people there are so kind," she said. "I'm very appreciative and grateful."

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