Additional Coverage:
- She spent years hoping to find a diamond for her engagement ring. She found one in an Arkansas park (cnn.com)
A New Yorker’s quest for the perfect engagement ring led her on a cross-country adventure culminating in a sparkling discovery. Micherre Fox, 31, had a unique vision for her engagement ring: a diamond she found herself. Her research pointed her to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, the only public diamond mine in the world.
After graduate school, with the support of her partner who agreed to wait for the perfect stone, Fox embarked on her diamond-hunting expedition on July 8. After three weeks of searching under the Arkansas summer sun, her persistence paid off.
On her last day, a glint of light caught her eye. Initially dismissing it as a dew-covered spiderweb, Fox quickly realized she’d stumbled upon something much more precious.
The stone, about the size of a canine tooth, was confirmed by park staff as a 2.3-carat white diamond, the third largest found at the park this year. Overwhelmed with joy, Fox dropped to her knees, laughing and crying. She named her treasure the “Fox-Ballou Diamond,” a combination of her and her partner’s last names.
Fox described the experience as invaluable, highlighting the hard work and perseverance involved. “There’s something symbolic about being able to solve problems with money, but sometimes money runs out in a marriage,” she explained. “You need to be willing and able to solve those problems with hard work.”
Crater of Diamonds State Park continues to attract hopeful prospectors, with a “finders, keepers” policy that has resulted in over 75,000 diamonds being unearthed since 1906. This year alone, 366 diamonds have been registered, including 11 weighing over one carat. The park is also home to the discovery site of the largest diamond ever found in the US, the 40.23-carat “Uncle Sam” diamond, now housed in the National Museum of Natural History.