NYC bride-to-be finds $27K diamond in Arkansas…
She‘s a local rock star.
Bidding a short-term farewell to the Big Apple boded nicely for future bride Micherre Fox, 31, who stumbled upon a 2.30-carat white diamond — value around $27,000 — during a three-week hunt at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.
It’s a finger-licking discover that’s saving her fiancé a handful of dough.
Fox spent a number of weeks scouring through an Arkansas park, trying for a diamond for her engagement ring. Arkansas State Parks
“Having never seen an actual diamond in my hands, I didn’t know for sure, but it was the most diamond-y diamond I had seen,” the Manhattan-based millennial raved in a assertion. “I got on my knees and cried, then started laughing.”
Fox, a latest graduate college grad, determined to have fun her tutorial achievements with an excavating journey through the park’s diamond-search space, a 37.5-acre landmark, where over 75,000 stellar stones have been unearthed since the early 1900s.
A staggering 366 diamonds have been registered at Crater of Diamonds in 2025 alone, including 11 weighing more than one carat each.
Fox didn’t immediately reply to The Post’s request for a remark.
But now, she’s laughing on simple avenue.
Fox skilled an array of feelings — including tearful shock and laughing pleasure — upon discovering her diamond on the last day of the hunt. Arkansas State Parks
With the national average value of an engagement ring totaling $5,500, per a latest research, Fox and her groom-to-be, who absolutely supported her resolution to dig for her own diamond, are coming up roses forward of their big day.
Owing to the high price of weddings, which may value {couples} across the nation more than $26,000 — and the lovebirds close to NYC over $58,000 — every penny counts.
Rather than blowing their finances on a ritzy rock, Fox was more than keen to take engagement issues into her own arms — fairly actually.
“I was willing to go anywhere in the world to make that happen,” she said. “I researched, and it turned out that the only place in the world to do it was right in our backyard, in Arkansas!”
The largest diamond ever found in Crater of Diamonds State Park was a 40.23-carat rock, which is now half of the Smithsonian’s mineral and gem assortment. Shutterstock / VioletSkyAdventures
Well, it’s not so a lot “our backyard” as it’s 1,200 miles away from New York — but hey, who’s counting?
“There’s something symbolic about being able to solve problems with money, but sometimes money runs out in a marriage,” added Fox. “You need to be willing and able to solve those problems with hard work.”
And work, she did.
The brunette kicked off her weeks-long search on July 8, spending hours combing through the grounds at Crater of Diamonds for bling. Daily, she’d hit the path, desperately trying high and low for that glitzy glow, but would typically come up empty-handed.
Fox’s luck, however, modified at 11 a.m. on July 29, her closing day at the park, when she seen one thing shiny by her toes. The nearly-wed initially assumed it was an iridescent, dew-covered spiderweb.
Fox initially mistook the stone for a spiderweb until she received a nearer look and found it was, in fact, a diamond. Arkansas State Parks
But after giving it a slight nudge and noticing its gleam, Fox realized she’d scored treasure.
Experts at the park’s Diamond Discovery Center confirmed that Fox had discovered a white, or colorless, diamond weighing more than two carats. It’s roughly the dimensions of a human canine tooth.
The gem — which she’s named the Fox-Ballou Diamond — in honor of her and her fiancé, reportedly boasts a easy, rounded form and stunning metallic luster, typical of most Crater diamonds.
It is the third-largest diamond discovered at the park, thus far, this yr.
Park officers are glad for the soon-to-be married gal.
Park authorities confirmed the weight and coloration of Fox’s candy effective, and congratulated her on the dazzling discovery. Shutterstock / VioletSkyAdventures
“Ms. Fox’s story highlights the fact that, even when putting forth your best effort, being in the right place at the right time plays a part in finding diamonds,” said Waymon Cox, Crater of Diamonds State Park Assistant Superintendent, in a assertion.
“After weeks of hard work, Ms. Fox found her diamond sitting right on top of the ground.”
A satisfies Fox is grateful that her search was profitable — and that it’s now over.
“After all the research, there’s luck and there’s hard work,” said the belle, who plans to have the rock set in her engagement ring. “When you are literally picking up the dirt in your hands, no amount of research can do that for you; no amount of education can take you all the way.”
“It was daunting!”
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