A couple has found a rare 2.7-carat white diamond in an Arkansas state park, with the husband praising Jesus for finding the gem.
Dewy White and his wife had packed their things in Paoli, Indiana, to embark on an adventurous road trip, stopping at the famous Crater of Diamonds State Park, according to a statement. After two days of digging through 37.5 acres, they came up empty and moved on to their next stop.
But the couple remained determined and returned to the park on Thursday, looking for a gem in the Canary Hill area by the south wash pavilion.
“A very nice gentleman I met on my first day out here suggested that area,” White said. “He seemed like he knew what he was doing, and it looked like a nice, shaded spot.”
After three days of breaking up dirt by hand and sifting through mesh screens, White spotted a shiny stone.
“It looked like a metal piece of glass,” White recalled of the gem. “The minute I saw it in my shovel, I knew.”
Upon the discovery, White said, “Thank you, Jesus!” and then swiftly brought the stone to the park staff to identify.
He had a 2.71-carat white round diamond in his hand — about the size of a pea.
White, like other visitors who are lucky enough to find such a gem, named his diamond. He named it the Hope Diamond because he had hoped to find one.
A 2.71-carat round diamond can range in price from $9,216 to $116,239, depending on factors such as the gem’s color and clarity, according to diamond comparison site StoneAlgo. Although there can be a huge discrepancy when it comes to uncut diamonds like the one White found.
White’s gem was the fourth-largest diamond of the 414 diamonds that have been registered at the state park this year.
