This year’s honorees include a Midwest retailer and two multi-store independents, one in New York and the other in New England.
Crater of Diamonds Visitor Finds 1.53-Carat Stone
A 9-year-old named Grace Houston discovered the rough diamond while visiting the park with her family for the first time.
Murfreesboro, Ark.--The Crater of Diamonds State Park has made another visitor happy with the discovery of big white diamond.

According to a press release from Crater of Diamonds, Houston wants to be a geologist when she grows up, so her family started planning a visit to the park months ago, surprising her a few days before they left.
The first day of the trip was Friday but it was 100 degrees outside at the park that day so Crater of Diamonds was under a heat advisory. The Houstons considered only looking for stones for one day due to the heat index, but Grace wanted to keep going.
She then found the 1.53-carat white diamond in the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area on Saturday while she was wet sifting with her grandmother.
When asked if she would put the stone into a necklace or save it for an engagement ring, Houston said she would not. So it seems likely that, for now, the diamond will remain in its natural state.
Crater of Diamonds has been known to turn out large finds for visitors, with the most notable of late coming in the form of an 8.52-carat diamond, dubbed the “Esperanza,” found in June 2015.
Canada’s Embee Diamonds cut the stone and it was set in a pendant before being taken on a tour of American Gem Society stores.
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