Luck knows no age, and finding diamonds in Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds national park most certainly requires luck. As the only diamond-bearing premises in the world that allows anyone to dig for diamonds for a $10 entrance fee, the Crater of Diamonds Park in Arkansas has been known to draw tourists and diamond seekers from all around the country and the world. The concept sounds all too tempting, but what many don’t realize is that despite the success of some very fortunate individuals, most excavators leave empty-handed and disappointed. This just goes to show that more luck than skill is needed for uncovering a diamond.
Luck was definitely on one boy’s side as he not only found a diamond in the park after a mere 30 minutes, but an enormous one at that. The diamond weighs 7.44 carats and is a beautiful brown diamond. Brown diamonds are just one of the various types of color diamonds that exist. Although considered a more common color, it is still nonetheless a fancy color diamond, which is incredibly rare and prestigious.
The Find
Kalel Langford, a 14-year-old boy who was visiting the Crater of Diamonds Park with his father, was walking along the riverbank when he noticed something shining on the ground. Upon closer examination it appeared to be a coffee-colored stone around the size of a pinto bean. Though the stone was far from what the pair imagined a diamond to look like, they knew it was something unusual.
The Diamond
Nothing, however, prepared Kalel and his father for being told that Kalel’s discovery was in fact a 7.44-carat brown diamond, the seventh largest diamond ever to be discovered in the park. Furthermore, it was the largest brown diamond found in over forty years. Despite the many possibilities available to Kalel and his family as a result of finding this incredible diamond, Kalel decided to keep the stone as a souvenir. Kalel called his diamond find “The Superman Diamond,” as he is an avid fan of the superhero.
Additional discoveries
Though this diamond discovery will go down in the books as one of the most memorable finds of all time, there are have been a few others that are noteworthy as well. These include an 8.52-carat diamond found in 2015 by Bobby Oskarson, the 3.69-carat teardrop-shaped diamond discovered by Susie Clark in 2015, and the 2.01-carat yellow diamond uncovered by Dean Filppula in 2015.
A total of 75,000 diamonds has been extracted from the park since they were first discovered there in 1906. That number may seem high, and it is for the amount of “free” diamonds that were taken home, but it still pales in comparison to the numbers of visitors who come to try their luck every year. Still, these large finds give us hope than there are more like them to be found.