Couple finds big gem at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, officials say
Seek and ye shall find, they say. Pat Choate did just that while visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park on Tuesday, when she turned up a 3.29-carat diamond.
“I saw something shiny several feet ahead of me and walked over to see what it was,” Pat Choate said. “I lost sight of it when I got close, but then I turned around (and) I found the diamond lying beside me!”
Pat and her husband John have visited the Arkansas park many times over the years and found their fair share of diamonds, but finding the brown gem was the highlight of their adventures.
“Each time Pat and I see the road sign for the Crater of Diamonds while driving to the park, we always tell each other, ‘Let’s be like some of these other tourists and find a diamond within 30 minutes.’ We’ve been saying that for years, but this time it actually happened to us,” John Choate said in the park’s news release.
It didn’t take long for Pat to realize her big find was special after she showed it to multiple visitors nearby. She placed the diamond in a pill bottle to show John before taking it to the Diamond Discovery Center to learn more about the gem.
“Mrs. Choate’s diamond is about the size of a chickpea, with a sparkling metallic luster and a beautiful hue similar to brandy. Like many larger diamonds from the park, it appears to be fractured and contains a few inclusions, which gives it a unique appearance,” Assistant Superintendent Meghan Moore in the news release.
Park officials said Choate’s diamond is the third-largest found at the park this year and “is the largest brown gem found at the park in more than two years, since a teenager from Centerton, Arkansas, discovered a 7.44-carat brown diamond in March 2017.”
Most would look to cash in on their find, but Pat says she will keep her gem as another memory she and John have made during their visits to the park.
“It has been a long time coming, a lot of dirt, and many years of searching — and I thank the good Lord for it! I know it’s not a perfect diamond, but it sure is a thrill!”
