Jack Pearadin, a Navy reservist originally from Missouri, has been hunting diamonds at Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park since 2013.
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Pearadin → hunt → 2013
Over the years, he has unearthed more than 300 gems.
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he → unearth → gems
But this time, when his shovel hit the gravel, he spotted something different.
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he → hit → something
After rinsing the gravel and tipping it onto a table, he noticed a yellow crystal about the size of a fingernail catching the light.
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he → rinse → light
Oh my God!’ Pearadin said during the livestream.
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Pearadin → say → livestream
‘Holy cr*p, we got a big one!’ he yelled.
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he → get → one
It turns out it is the largest diamond found this year at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.
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it → turn → Arkansas
For Pearadin, it is unlike anything he has dug up before.
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he → dig → anything
Talking to the AP, he claimed the diamond could be worth $1 million.
uncertain
diamond → talk → AP
A hobby that is yet to pay off
Gem hunting may seem like a rewarding career.
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hunting → pay → career
But Pearadin is the first to admit his hobby has not paid off.
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hobby → admit → ?
Over a dozen years, he has sifted through the rocks, and the field where this stone turned up has already given him more than 300 gems.
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stone → sift → gems
Originally from Missouri, he first tried his luck at the park in 2013 and later moved to nearby Murfreesboro to stay close to it.
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he → try → it
‘I love it that much,’ he told the outlet.
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he → love → outlet
Most of the diamonds he found were sold online.
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he → find → diamonds
This one came out of the ground with help.
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one → come → help
Pearadin and his friend Michael Schumacher of Wisconsin shovelled it from the field together, and Schumacher helped fill the bucket that held the stone.
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that → shovel → stone
Pearadin has named the diamond the ‘American Dream’.
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Pearadin → name → diamond
A diamond worth $1 million
Pearadin thinks this new diamond he unearthed would fetch him $1 million.
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he → think → million
At least, that’s what some of the collectors told him.
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some → ’ → him
At least one experienced appraiser told the news agency that a stone of this size and quality might be worth a quarter of that.
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stone → tell → that
Laura Stanley, a certified gem appraiser in Little Rock, said a high-quality six-carat yellow diamond from the park can sell for about $250,000.
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diamond → say → 250,000
According to her, the park’s name is part of the reason.
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name → accord → reason
It’s the only place in America where you can go find your own diamond and you can’t compare that to a diamond from anywhere else,’ Stanley said.
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Stanley → ’ → diamond
For some context, a typical 0.17-carat diamond from the park sells for around $700, Stanley said.
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Stanley → sell → 700
Cutting will change the stone, too.
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Cutting → change → stone
Natural diamonds tend to be cloudy and oddly shaped, and they lose about 25% of their weight when cut and polished, Nathan Renfro, senior manager at the Gemological Institute of America, told AP.
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Renfro → tend → AP
A $15 fee to find diamonds
The park charges $15 to fill a five-gallon bucket with rocks, and visitors keep any gemstones they find.
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they → find → gemstones
More than 37,000 diamonds have been discovered by gem hunters since the former open-pit mine became a state park in 1972.
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mine → discover → 1972
In a year, usually about 400 to 800 diamonds turn up, and most weigh about a quarter of a carat, according to park interpreter Sarah Bivens.
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most → turn → Bivens
Park assistant superintendent Waymon Cox revealed that a nine-carat diamond was found in 2020 by an Arkansas bank manager and a seven-carat stone was unearthed in 2024 by a French man.
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stone → reveal → man
The biggest record belongs to Uncle Sam, a 40.23-carat crystal found in 1924, the largest diamond ever unearthed in the United States.
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record → belong → States
It was cut into a 12.42-carat gem and gifted to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, where it hangs in the ‘Great American Diamonds’ exhibit.
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it → cut → exhibit
Today, Arkansas’ park is one of the only places in the world where anyone can hunt for diamonds and take their finds with them.
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anyone → hunt → them
‘It’s a pretty remarkable operation that that’s available to the public,’ Renfro said.
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Renfro → ’ → public
Pearadin, on the other hand, has named his latest find the ‘American Dream’.
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Pearadin → name → find
‘It’s just this massive, gorgeous yellow diamond,’ he said.
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he → ’ → ?
The seasoned gem hunter plans to split the profits with his fellow hunter, Michael Schumacher of Wisconsin.
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hunter → plan → Wisconsin
The Aporia
