California woman finds 4.38-carat diamond at Arkansas state park

A California woman found a 4.38-carat yellow diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park last Thursday, which is the largest diamond found at the park in this year, Arkansas State Parks said in a press release.

Noreen Wredberg and her husband, Michael, arrived at the Crater of Diamonds State Park last week. They started their search for the diamond in a shaded area near the mine entrance. Soon, on her husband’s insistence, they moved farther out.

“It was cold in the shade that morning. so I told Noreen that we should go to the middle of the field, where it was warmer,” Michael said, Fox 5 reported. 

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About 40 minutes later, Noreen spotted a “sparkling gem” on top of the ground. 

“I didn’t know it was a diamond then, but it was clean and shiny, so I picked it up,” she said.

She gave the stone to her husband, who took it to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center for identification. Following an examination, the park staff confirmed that they had found a very large yellow diamond.

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At 4.38 carats, it is the largest found at the park since October 2020, when a 4.49-carat yellow diamond was discovered by a visitor. 

Finders of large Crater diamonds get to choose to name their gems. Noreen and her husband named theirs ‘Lucy’s Diamond’, after Michael’s pet kitten.

“The name is sentimental to us. Lucy is mostly gray but has slight tints of yellow in her fur, similar to the light yellow of my diamond,” Noreen said, Fox 5 reported. 

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She, however, was not sure what she will do with her diamond. She may have it cut, depending on its quality.

“I don’t even know what it’s worth yet. It’s all new to me,” she said.