US Man, Walking In Park, Picks A Piece Of Glass Only To Find It's 5-Carat Diamond

A man from the US state of Arkansas named Jerry Evans stumbled upon the largest diamond found at Crater of Diamonds State Park in three years. He appropriately named this dazzling stone, a 4.87-carat gem ‘Evans Diamond.’ Evans and his girlfriend were enjoying a visit to the state park during the spring when he found the precious diamond. Mistaking the sparkling gem for a piece of glass, Evans casually placed it in his pocket. Intrigued by the find, he decided to seek professional opinion and took the mysterious object to the Gemological Institute of America.

The Gemological Institute of America promptly responded to Evans’ inquiry, revealing that the seemingly ordinary item was, in fact, an extraordinary near-colourless 4.87-carat diamond. The jewel, roughly the size of a jellybean and shaped like a pyramid, has now become the third-largest gem unearthed at the park since 2020 when a 9.07-carat brown diamond was discovered.

“I thought it might be a piece of glass, it was so clear. I really didn’t know,” Evans shared in a release. “We were picking up everything thinking it was a diamond,” he added.

He further said, “When they called and told me it was real, I was tickled to death!”

The Crater of Diamonds State Park, situated in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, has a rich history of diamond discoveries. According to Arkansas State Parks, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed since the first discovery by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land before it was designated a state park in 1972.

In 2023 alone, approximately 798 diamonds, totalling over 125 carats, have been registered at the park. On average, one to two diamonds are found by visitors daily.

Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox shared his enthusiasm about Evans’ remarkable discovery with UPI. He mentioned that although he frequently receives emails from individuals seeking identification for items found in the park, this marks the first occasion where someone has reached out to him after having a diamond officially identified by the GIA.

“I’m glad that Mr Evans was able to bring his historic diamond back to the park to have it officially registered,” he added.