New York Woman Digs Up 2.3-Carat Diamond for Her Own Engagement Ring

Some brides shop for a ring. This bride-to-be decided to dig hers out of the earth.

Micherre Fox, 31, originally from New York City, just pulled off a mission two years in the making, finding her own diamond for her engagement ring.

The Mission to Find Her Diamond

Fox says the idea started after graduate school, when she decided she wanted her engagement ring to have more than sparkle; she wanted it to have a story.

She was willing to go anywhere in the world to make it happen. Her research led her to discover that the only public place on the planet where anyone can search for and keep real diamonds was right here in the U.S... in Arkansas.

Three Weeks, a Lot of Dirt, and a Sparkling Surprise

Armed with research and determination, Fox spent nearly every day for three weeks combing through the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area. On the 21st day of her trip, she was walking along the West Drain when she spotted what she first thought was a dew-covered spiderweb.

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When it kept shining in the sunlight, she nudged it with her foot — and realized she had just found “the most diamond-y diamond” she’d ever seen.

The Fox-Ballou Diamond

At the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, staff confirmed she had found a white, colorless diamond weighing over two carats, about the size of a tooth, with a smooth, rounded shape and metallic luster.

Fox dropped to her knees, cried, and then laughed. She named it the Fox-Ballou Diamond after her and her partner’s last names.

It’s the third-largest diamond found at the park in 2025 so far, and one of 366 diamonds registered there this year alone, including 11 weighing more than one carat.

A Park With a History of Sparkle

Crater of Diamonds State Park sits on the eroded surface of a volcanic crater. Visitors have been finding diamonds there since farmer John Huddleston discovered the first stones in 1906. More than 75,000 have been unearthed since, in colors ranging from white to yellow to brown.

The park’s largest find ever,  the “Uncle Sam” diamond, weighing 40.23 carats, was discovered in 1924 and now lives in the Smithsonian’s mineral and gem collection.