A woman has gone the extra mile in search of the perfect diamond for her engagement ring.
Micherre Fox, a 31-year-old strategy consultant from New York City, spent two years dreaming of an exquisite and ethically sourced stone for her ring, an official park press release revealed.
"We're not getting engaged until I do that," she told her boyfriend, Trevor Ballou. Her partner was supportive of her ambitious endeavor, and agreed to wait until she achieved her goal.
“They come from the ground. What is stopping us from just getting one ourselves?” she added.
During her research, Fox discovered that the only active public diamond mine in the world was just a short flight and drive away. Fox headed south to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, on July 8 and began her pursuit.
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She spent a month digging daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., sleeping in a tent and limiting herself to just one day off. Yet, Fox said the summer heat was unbearable and something she’d not prepared for.
"There were days where I wouldn't shower for several days […] by the time I got out I was so tired and hurt […] I couldn't muster the energy to spend 10 minutes undressing and taking a shower."
At one point, her trusty shovel was stolen, she says, which meant she had to trek 1.5 hours each way to find the nearest hardware store.
Then, on July 29, her final planned day of digging, she struck proverbial gold.
“I thought it was dew,” she said, saying that she spotted something glimmering by her foot. “I pawed at it with my hiking boot, and it didn't move.”
Her discovery turned out to be a 2.3–carat diamond – making it the third largest of the 366 diamonds to be discovered at the park that year, the park said.
“Fox’s diamond is about the size of a human canine tooth. It has a smooth, rounded shape and beautiful metallic luster, typical of most Crater diamonds. Its blemished surface hints at its violent origin deep within the Earth's mantle,” a spokesperson the park said.
On average, the park finds one to two diamonds a day – many are small and only a dozen exceed one carat annually, says assistant park superintendent Waymon Cox.
Commenting on the find, he said, “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.”
Fox named her gem the “Fox-Ballou Diamond,” after her and her partner’s last names, the park said. She plans to have the diamond set in her engagement ring.
However, she isn’t planning to have her diamond valued, as for her, it’s the meaning behind the gemstone that matters. She explained that the gemstone was an embodiment of the promise she wants to make to her partner about who she's going to be in a marriage - someone who shows up and puts in the hard work.
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