Jack Pearadin has been hunting diamonds for more than a dozen years. He’s found more than 300 gems at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. But earlier this year, he made his biggest discovery so far.
“We got a big one!” he yelled after rinsing gravel from a bucket. He flipped the contents onto a table. That revealed a 6.03-carat yellow diamond. Carats are a measure of how big precious stones are. One carat weighs about as much as a paperclip.
The stone is roughly the size of a fingernail. It’s the largest diamond found this year at Crater of Diamonds State Park.
Mr. Pearadin claims collectors have told him his stone could be worth $1 million. But at least one appraiser says it’s probably only worth $250,000. Still, it’s an impressive find.
The Arkansas park is one of the only places in the world where anyone can hunt for diamonds and keep the stones.
Visitors have found more than 37,000 diamonds since 1972. That’s when the former open-pit diamond mine became part of a state park. Most of the gems are small and worth no more than a few hundred dollars.
The largest diamond ever unearthed in the United States was 40.23 carats. That’s a whopper of a diamond! It’s called the “Uncle Sam.” A miner found it in 1924 in what’s now the park.
Diamonds form deep inside the Earth. Volcanic activity brings them to the surface. These natural diamonds are often cloudy and oddly shaped. Jewelers cut and polish them. That brings out their sparkle.
Mr. Pearadin has searched for diamonds at the park since 2013. He moved from Missouri to nearby Murfreesboro for his hobby. “I love it that much,” he says. He’s sold most of his diamonds online.
The gem hound named his find the “American Dream.”
“It’s just this massive, gorgeous, yellow diamond,” Mr. Pearadin says. He plans to split the profit with fellow gem hunter Michael Schumacher. He helped fill the bucket that held the stone.
Did you know that diamonds come in many colors? Learn about them in All the Diamonds of the Rainbow.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. — Isaiah 62:3
