6.03-Carat Yellow Diamond Found at Arkansas Crater of Diamonds

What started as a routine livestream turned into a huge once-in-a-lifetime moment for two longtime diamond hunters at Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park.

Jack Pearadin, 35, of Nashville, Arkansas, was streaming on TikTok Live on January 25 while he was sifting through gravel he and his friend, Michael Schumacher, 43, of Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, had dug in late December. Just days earlier, that winter storm had moved through Arkansas, covering the park in more than an inch of ice, making conditions tough and digging for diamonds even tougher.

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Pearadin said it was all frozen as he was flipping through piles of gravel to show viewers how they search.

Visitors at the park are allowed to take home up to five gallons of sifted gravel per person, per day from the diamond search area. In fact, many diamonds registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park are discovered later, after guests wash and sort through their gravel at home, just like Pearadin was doing during his livestreaming on TikTok.

After he turned over several piles, Pearadin started to walk away and that's when something caught his eye.

A Golden Glint Glowing in the Dirt From Crater of Diamonds in Arkansas

He said he walked away from the pile of dirt and about eight feet away, he told the park officials he turned around for some reason. That's when he saw it. Something was glowing in the dirt pile.

At first, he didn’t realize how large it was. He grabbed a spoon and when that wouldn’t slide underneath it, he knew this was different and big.

I had to go almost to the bottom of the pile to pull it out. I was shaking!

His friend Schumacher watched the discovery unfold live from Wisconsin; he had jokingly told Pearadin earlier that their “big, flawless canary” was still growing in the gravel.

He was right.

Assistant Superintendent Waymon Cox said in a press release,

This diamond is absolutely stunning to see! It has a very symmetrical, rounded surface and appears to be a hexoctahedron, a 48-sided crystal. The shape is fairly rare, as most Crater diamonds tend to have 12 or 24 faces.

A Rare and Historic Find at Crater of Diamonds in Arkansas

Both men returned to the park on February 6, and that is when park staff confirmed the gem as a 6.03-carat yellow diamond! It's about the size of a gumdrop. The glowing canary-colored stone ranks as the fourth-largest yellow diamond ever registered at the park and the 22nd-largest overall since 1972.

The friends named it the “Pearadin Schumacher American Dream Diamond,” inspired by the song “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)” and America’s 250th anniversary year.

For both men, it’s not just about the diamond; it’s about chasing the dream and enjoying the hunt. This year will definitely go down in history for them as the year they caught the Big One.