20 January 2024
MURFREESBORO, Ark. (KARK) – A man visiting the United States from France recently discovered a big gem during his first visit to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.
Officials with the Arkansas State Parks said that Julien Navas of Paris, France, found a 7.46-carat diamond during his visit at the state park Thursday, Jan. 11.
Park officials said that Navas was originally visiting the U.S. to see the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur Rocket launch in Florida. After the launch, park officials said he traveled through New Orleans, Louisiana, before learning about the Crater of Diamonds State Park.
“I got to the park around nine o’clock and started to dig,” Navas said. “That is back-breaking work so by the afternoon I was mainly looking on top of the ground for anything that stood out.”
Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox noted that many of the park’s largest finds are discovered on the surface.
Park officials said that Navas discovered his gem after searching for several hours. The diamond has a deep chocolate brown color, rounded like a marble and is the size of a candy gumdrop, officials said.
(Courtesy Arkansas State Parks)
Navas decided to name his diamond the Carine Diamond, after his fiancée, park officials said. He said he has plans to cut the stone into two diamonds for his fiancée and his daughter. He also said that he plans to return to the park when his daughter is older.
Park officials said that the Carine Diamond is the fifth diamond registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park this year. It is the largest diamond registered at the park since 2020 and the eighth-largest diamond registered since the park became an Arkansas State Park in 1972.