A visitor found a massive 7.46-carat diamond in an Arkansas state park

(CNN) — An improvised detour led a Parisian traveler to live a “great adventure” in the United States.

Julian Navas, visiting the United States, also ventured to New Orleans to witness the launch of the first American moon landing mission in decades from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Along the way, he learned about Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, according to a news release from Arkansas State Parks.

As he had already discovered gold and ammonite fossils, the park piqued his interest.

Visitors dig in dirt at Crater of the Diamond State Park in Arkansas. (Courtesy: Arkansas State Parks)

On January 11, Navas arrived at the park, bought his ticket and rented basic diamond-finding equipment, according to a news release.

“I reached the park around nine o’clock and started digging,” Navas explained in the statement. “It’s tedious work, so I spent most of the afternoon searching the surface of the ground for anything that turned up.”

Fortunately for Navas, the park received more than an inch of rain just days before his arrival, making it wet and muddy, according to the release.

“When it rains in the countryside, it washes away the dirt and brings out the heavy rocks, minerals and diamonds near the surface,” said Wayman Cox, the park’s deputy superintendent.

Many of the park’s largest diamonds are found above ground, Cox said, and park officials periodically plow the 15-hectare discovery area to loosen the soil and encourage natural erosion.

Finally, Navas arrived at the park’s Diamond Discovery Center with what he had found. There they told him that he had a brown diamond of 7.46 carats.

A 7.46-carat diamond discovered by Julien Navas of Paris, France, while visiting Crater of Diamond State Park in Arkansas on January 11, 2024. (Courtesy: Arkansas State Parks)

Navas said, according to the statement, that he was stunned, and the only thing he could think of was to tell his fiancee what he had found. According to the statement, the stone is a deep chocolate brown, rounded like a marble and the size of a candy jelly bean.

Nawaz named his diamond the Kerin diamond in honor of his fiancee, and plans to divide it into two parts, one to his future wife and the other to his daughter.

The Carin Diamond is the eighth largest diamond found in the Crater of Diamonds since the state park was created in 1972, according to the news release. On average, visitors to the park find one or two diamonds a day. Diamonds formed millions of years ago, between 60 and 100 miles underground.

Geologists explained that a volcanic eruption about 100 million years ago brought the diamonds to the surface, according to the park’s website.

Nawas called the park “a magical place, where the dream of finding diamonds can come true! It was a great adventure.” Navas said she hopes to return to the park with her daughter when she grows up.