The diamond found by Julien Navas./Crater of Diamonds State Park Facebook
A French tourist made headlines after picking up a 7.46-carat diamond at an American state park.
According to the Washington Post and ABC News on the 26th (local time), Julien Navas (42), who lives in Paris, discovered a diamond while visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, USA, on the 11th.
Navas borrowed a diamond excavation kit from the park and was looking for diamonds all day when he discovered a ‘perfectly’ shiny object in the mud.
Navas said, “I’ve always read a lot of articles about Diamond State Park, so I’ve always wanted to visit. I come to the U.S. often, and as I got engaged, I needed a wedding ring with a beautiful diamond for my fiancé.”
As a result of the park’s analysis, it was confirmed that what Navas discovered was a 7.46-carat brown diamond. This is the largest diamond discovered at the park since 2020 and the eighth largest since it opened in 1972. The Washington Post said, “You get a 7.46-carat chocolate-colored diamond for only $15 (admission fee).”
Julien Navas is holding a diamond he found himself./Crater of Diamonds State Park Facebook
Park manager Waymon Cox said, “It rained a few days before Navas visited the park, and this environment seems to have helped him find the diamond.”
Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only open-pit mine-type park in the United States, and was developed in earnest when a farmer named John Huddleston discovered rough diamonds in 1906. After changing ownership several times, it has been operated by the state of Arkansas since 1972.
Visitors can pay an entrance fee to enter the park and take home the gems they discover for themselves. To date, approximately 35,000 diamonds have been discovered in the park. An 8.52-carat diamond discovered in 2015 was sold for a whopping $1 million (about 1.3 billion won).
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2024-01-27 21:57:00
