Plumber recovers $78,000 diamond ring

updated 3:04 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2009

PHOENIX - Just a case of plumb luck.

It took a plumber to retrieve a woman's 7-carat diamond ring after city workers failed in efforts to flush the gem out of the pipes of a restaurant toilet.

The $78,000 engagement ring fell from Allison Berry's hand when she flushed the toilet in the restroom of the Black Bear Diner on Jan. 14. The ring plopped in and the water whisked it away, said Elena Castelar, the restaurant's shift manager.

City workers opened a pipe outside the restaurant and continuously flushed the toilet, hoping to push the ring out to the opening. When that didn't work, the city called the office in suburban Tempe of Mr. Rooter, a plumbing services franchise based in Waco, Texas.

"This is going to be like dredging for a treasure chest in the ocean," Mike Roberts, general manager of Mr. Rooter, said at the time.

Roberts guided a tiny video camera into the pipe with an infrared light attached. He eventually spotted the ring just 3 feet down and 5 feet over from where it was flushed.

Then it took an hour-and-a-half of jackhammering and pipe removal before Roberts and a technician could recover the ring, eight hours after it fell in the toilet.

"They always say diamonds are a girl's best friend. In this case, a plumber is a girl's best friend," Roberts said. "She was just so excited, she had tears in her eyes. She gave us a hug and said 'Thank you so much.'"

The Mr. Rooter bill came to $5,200 and the city's bill was $1,000.

Berry, of Eureka, Calif., and her fiance also tipped Roberts and the technician $400 each and gave $200 to a diner employee for staying late.

More from msnbc.com In slump-hit areas, suicide rates on the rise Brokaw:  The night the wall came down Cosmic Log: How the Maya lived Is the swine flu shot as safe as regular vaccine? Scoop: Letterman extortion case heads to court Signs of the sacrifices of military life On Twitter: Breaking news updates | Weird and wild

MORE FROM WEIRD NEWS

Weird news Section Front

Woman passes driver's test on 950th try Vanished Persian army said found in desert Man provides photo for his own wanted poster World’s scariest foods Airplane part falls onto N.Y. home’s front lawn Miss. gov’s son gets 2 holes-in-one in one round SUV sideswipes elephant in Oklahoma Giant snake capture in Florida was a hoax Brazilian makes surprise visit at own funeral Want to own more than 3 cats? Get a license Weird news Section Front   Add Weird news headlines to your news reader: