Man Who Took Girlfriend to Park Discovers 4.87-Carat Diamond, Mistakes It for Piece of Glass
Jerry Evans pocketed the stone and then later contacted the Gemological Institute of America, which gave him the good news
Arkansas.gov
An Arkansas man was “tickled to death” to find out that a piece of what he thought was clear glass found at a state park earlier this year is actually a near-colorless 4.87-carat diamond.
When Jerry Evans visited Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Ark., last spring with his girlfriend, the couple picked up “everything” they thought could be of interest, he recalled in a news release.
In the first 10 minutes inside the 37-acre field — in which visitors frequently find diamonds from an eroded surface of a volcanic crater — Evans discovered the item on the top of a plowed ridge and pocketed it for later investigation.
“I thought it might be a piece of glass, it was so clear. I really didn’t know,” he said.
Evans later sent the stone to the Gemological Institute of America for identification, after thinking that it could be something other than just a piece of glass.
“When they called and told me it was real, I was tickled to death,” he said about the jellybean-sized, pyramid-shaped stone.
At the urging of his son, Evans then contacted the state park to share the news of his windfall.
Arkansas.gov
“While I get many emails from people wanting me to identify something they’ve found here, to my recollection, this is the first time someone has contacted me after they’ve had a diamond identified by the GIA,” Waymon Cox, assistant park superintendent, said in the release. “I’m glad that Mr. Evans was able to bring his historic diamond back to the park to have it officially registered.”
He added, “Mr. Evans’ diamond is spectacular to see. It’s a complete crystal with a brilliant white color reminiscent of many other large, white diamonds I’ve seen from here in the past.”
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The Lepanto resident’s diamond is the largest stone registered at the park since Kevin Kinard found a 9.07-carat brown diamond in 2020.
Related: Man Finds 9-Carat Diamond He Thought Was Glass in Arkansas State Park: 'I Was in Complete Shock'
At the time, Kinard also thought that he had just found a piece of glass.
"It kind of looked interesting and shiny, so I put it in my bag and kept searching," he said at the time.
Instead, the diamond was the second-largest gemstone ever found at the park.
"I honestly teared up when they told me," Kinard said. "I was in complete shock."
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