Latest news with #MicherreFox
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Woman Spends 3 Weeks Digging for a Diamond — Then Finds One: EXCLUSIVE
Micherre Fox had one wish: To find a diamond for her own engagement ring. The 31-year-old New Yorker and her partner came up with the idea during a casual conversation about their future. "They're in the ground. They come from the Earth. I should be able to just go get my own,' Fox tells recalling the conversation. 'It very quickly went from, 'That would be cool,' to probably within a few days, I was like, 'You know what? We're not getting engaged until I find my own. I think I can do it,'' she continues. After maneuvering business school and work schedules, Fox and her partner decided that only she could go hunt for the diamond. 'I would have been fine with either of us procuring it. It just so happened that I also really needed a detox. I was super burnt out from business school,' Fox says. Beyond the diamond, Fox says that an outdoor adventure sounded like exactly what she needed after graduating. 'I was like, 'I think this summer I'm going to need to go into a cabin in the woods just by myself for a few weeks — not talk to anyone and not use my phone,' Fox says. To fulfill her diamond-hunting plan, Fox thought she would have to go to Africa or India. 'I was willing to go anywhere in the world to make that happen,' she says. Turns out the answer was much closer. "I did research, and you can go to Arkansas and it's safe and it's right here!" she reveals. Crater of Diamonds State Park, located two hours southwest of Little Rock, has registered over 360 diamonds, with 11 stones weighing more than one carat each, per a press release from the state park. Fox, determined to find her own, hoped to join the lucky club. With only a tent, cot, two pairs of the same outfit, soap, her Kindle and diamond-finding equipment, she flew to Arkansas and set out to find her dream stone. After landing at the airport, Fox hailed an Uber from the airport to the campsite. Due to a lack of reception at the site and geographical location, her only option to ensure a ride back to the airport in three weeks was to ask the driver who originally took her to return. 'I was like, 'Please, please, don't change your mind! I'm going to pay you ahead of time, I'm happy to run the risk,'' she says, recalling what she had told her driver. ''I'm really, really trying to incentivize you to show up on this day, because I have literally no other way of getting back to Little Rock if you don't show up,'' she adds. Because her trip was last-minute, she was also unable to reserve a consecutive three-week spot at a campsite and needed to move sites seven times as a result. Fox spent about eight hours a day digging and sifting through rocks with her bare hands. Aside from a few trips to the closest hardware store, about four miles from the campsite, most of her three weeks were spent in the fields. Fox found her diamond on the very last day of her limited trip. She says that she had certainly lost hope at times, knowing that no amount of research can overthrow luck. Two days before her departure, Fox says that she had a funny yet honest conversation with herself, coming to terms with the fact that she may go home empty-handed. 'I was like, 'I'm probably not going to find a diamond at this point.' And it's really hard to own that, because I worked really, really hard. I took every chance I had, and I did everything I could,' she says. On Tuesday, July 29, Fox noticed a glistening shine at her feet and gave it a few looks before picking it up for a closer look. '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,' Fox says. After a park staff took a look, it was confirmed she had fulfilled her mission: Fox found a white diamond weighing in at over two carats. 'I got on my knees and cried, then started laughing,' she says, recalling the emotional moment. On her trek back home, Fox says that the diamond, which she named after her and her partner's names, Fox-Ballou Diamond, was sealed in a box and inside a fanny pack that stayed across her chest at all times. When her sister asked for a photo, Fox remembers telling her, 'Absolutely not!' 'You lost your mind, if you think it's coming out of this fanny pack right now,' she recaps. The diamond is staying in a safe deposit box until Fox and her partner decide to create something. 'There will be a time where we fix this to something. But for now, it's just in a little box,' she says. For anyone who wants to go on their own diamond-finding adventure, Fox recommends to 'stay for long enough where you know your odds start working in your favor.' 'If it's something that you set your heart on, give yourself the odds at work.' Oh, and bring a pair of gloves. 'By the end, I couldn't touch anything at all, because your hands just get worn down,' she says with a chuckle. This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
Straits Times
3 days ago
- General
- Straits Times
With a shovel and a dream, woman finds 2.3 carat diamond in Arkansas
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Of 366 diamonds registered so far in 2025, only 11 weighed more than a carat. NEW YORK - By the end of her trip, Ms Micherre Fox had almost made peace with the fact that she would leave Arkansas with nothing but bug bites and tattered hiking boots. For three weeks, Ms Fox, who lives in New York City, had been camping at Crater of Diamonds State Park and going out to dig for gems each day. She rose before dawn, paid the US$15 (S$19) entry fee, walked the half-mile to the fields with her battered tools, and dug, sifted and rinsed until her hands ached. She was on a mission: to find a diamond for her engagement ring. Wake, walk, work, hope. Repeat. On her last day there, she slept in and planned to search for an amethyst instead. 'I was coming to terms with the fact I was likely leaving without a diamond,' she said. But then, as she carried her fourth bucket of dirt to the water pool where diggers rinse their finds, she saw a glimmer in a spider web on the ground, nudging it with her boot. But what looked like glistening dew did not rub off. In fact, it was a shiny stone. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World No peace deal, but 'great progress' made in meeting with Putin over Ukraine war: Trump World Made-for-TV pageantry in Alaska as Trump brings Putin in from the cold Singapore Nowhere to run: Why Singapore needs to start protecting its coasts now Singapore Using nature, multi-use structures among solutions being studied to protect Singapore coastlines Asia Magnitude 4.9 earthquake strikes near east coast of Australia, EMSC says Singapore HSA evaluating rapid urine test kits to enable faster detection of etomidate, found in Kpods Asia Move over, Labubu – Chiikawa is the new craze in Hong Kong Later that day, after sharing the news with her boyfriend, Ms Fox cried tears of joy: 'I'm just like: Oh my God. That was an impossible thing, and I did it and I am proud of that.' Crater of Diamonds Park officials later confirmed: Ms Fox, 31, had found a 2.3-carat white diamond, the third-largest find this year. Of 366 diamonds registered so far in 2025, only 11 weighed more than a carat. Ms Micherre Fox holds a 2.3-carat uncut white diamond she dug up at Arkansas' Crater of Diamonds State Park. PHOTO: ARKANSAS STATE PARKS/NYTIMES Ms Annie Dye, a gemologist based in New York state, said that depending on the final cut, clarity, color and carat weight, the diamond could be worth anywhere from US$10,000 to US$50,000. The couple have yet to get it appraised, so its precise value remains unknown. Each year, about 160,000 people, on average, come to Crater of Diamonds State Park, about a 180km drive southwest from Little Rock, in hopes of digging up a diamond they can keep. Most days, diggers take their finds to the park's experts to learn what they found. The park has a 'finders, keepers' policy, making anything they dig up theirs to take home at no added cost. But often, it's one of three less-valuable rocks: smooth brown jasper; angular quartz; or soft and brittle calcite. Every so often, someone makes a historic find. Like, Mr Bobbie Oskarson, of Longmont, Colorado, who found a white, 8.52-carat diamond in June 2015. Ms Fox, who had just graduated with a master's degree in management from Fordham University in New York, had come for adventure and to find a jewelry piece she could dig from the ground herself. When she and her partner began to talk about marriage two years ago, she quickly realised she wanted to find a diamond rather than buy one. In addition to avoiding the exploitative diamond mining industry, this stone would represent the kind of work marriage would require, she felt, and show her commitment. 'There are countless things that will happen that you can't just solve with money,' she said, 'and in those moments, you need to be able to roll your sleeves up and show up every day and do really hard work to keep that thing going.' For her, 'this was an opportunity for me to symbolically commit to doing that work,' she added. There were setbacks. About a week in, she got bitten up by chiggers, which left her itching for weeks. Almost a week later, her hand shovel was stolen, forcing her to dig with her bare hands until her nails were worn down. Two days after that, the soles of her brown boots flapped, like old paint peeling from a wall, with each step. 'Socks were probably peeking out like two days after that,' Ms Fox said. Still, the field called. By midmorning of final day, after more than 12km of walking to a nearby town to treat herself to an iced latte, she reached the 37 acres of plowed brown fields. It was then that she came across what looked like a spider web beaded with dew in the dirt. With a hint of reluctance, she bent down, still carrying a heavy bucket, and picked up what she thought would turn out to be a mica stone. Small as a canine tooth, it caught the light differently. Oily, metallic. 'I kept telling myself, 'It's just glass with silver paint,'' she said. She clinched the stone in her fist, dirt still clinging to her hands. Around her, the field hummed with the quiet industry of strangers who did not yet know that a diamond had just left the ground. She began the walk to the gemologist's office. A three-minute stroll, she recalled, that felt closer to 30. She kept her pace slow. Trying to stay level and not get her hopes up. At the gemologist's desk, where most hopefuls learn in seconds they do not have a diamond, she placed the stone on the counter. Instead of a quick no, there was movement – staff members summoned, the stone carried to a back room. Eventually, they called her in: It was a white diamond, more than 2 carats. Ms Fox asked for a moment alone to share the experience with her boyfriend, Trevor Ballou, 37, before continuing to answer more questions from the state park's staff about the diamond. In a quiet room, the relief and exhaustion hit her at once, she said. After days of heat, hard soil and the constant weight of possible failure, she let the moment wash over her. The ache in her muscles, the grit in her hands and the improbable reward glinting in the light. She fell to a knee, her fist pressed into the ground, tears running down her face. 'I crumbled,' Ms Fox said. 'My head was bent to the ground and my eyes were wet, and I'm just like: Oh my God. That was an impossible thing, and I did it and I am proud of that.' Carrying the diamond in a small box nestled in a fanny pack strapped across her chest, she flew home from Arkansas with a sense of triumph the next day. Back in New York, at their apartment in Manhattan's West Village, her boyfriend was waiting with her favorite french fries from Bubby's, a popular home-style American eatery. 'I hunted this for you,' she said, and then presented him with a box containing the diamond. Now the ball is in Mr Ballou's court. When is he going to propose, and what's his plan? In an interview, he said: 'I'll say this, I certainly have to find a way to live up to this now. She's dealt her cards and now it's my turn to put together something impressive, and I'm really looking forward to that.' Any diamond over 2 carats found at the Crater of Diamonds State Park gets a name. This one is named the Fox-Ballou Diamond, after the couple's last names. Now, it just needs a ring. NYTIMES
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Manhattan woman finds 2.3-carat diamond for engagement ring after three-week quest
A New York woman recently discovered a 2.3-carat white diamond in an Arkansas state park while hunting for the perfect stone for her engagement ring. Micherre Fox — a 31-year-old Manhattan resident — decided years ago that she wanted to find her own diamond. On July 8, she traveled to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas to begin her search, according to a news release from Waymon Cox, the park's assistant superintendent. "There's something symbolic about being able to solve problems with money, but sometimes money runs out in a marriage," Fox said in a statement. "You need to be willing and able to solve those problems with hard work." Fox spent three weeks scouring the park's 37.5-acre search area. On July 29, her final day at the park, she noticed a glimmer near her feet. At first, she thought it may have been a spiderweb, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was a diamond, according to the news release. "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," Fox said in a statement. Park staff confirmed the gem was a diamond, and Fox was immediately flooded with emotion — falling to her knees crying and then laughing, according to the news release. The gem — which is about the size of a human canine tooth — is the third-largest diamond discovered so far this year at Crater of Diamonds State Park. Fox has since named her gem "Fox-Ballou Diamond," after the last names of her and her partner, according to the news release. Since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas state park in 1972, park visitors have discovered and kept over 35,000 diamonds. Adults can participate in gem hunting at the park, which is open to the public, for a fee of $15 per day, the Associated Press reported. Earlier this year, a Minnesota resident unearthed a 3.81-carat brown diamond in the state park.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
Woman strikes gold? No, she finds a 2.3-carat diamond after 3-week hunt in US park
A Manhattan woman's lifetime dream of wearing a self-found engagement diamond has come true after she discovered a dazzling 2.3-carat gem herself during a trip to Arkansas. 31-year-old Micherre Fox , had been telling friends for years about her wish for something unique for her engagement especially, a diamond she could discover herself. While most of the couples opt for jewelry store displays, she imagined traveling to a natural diamond site, digging the stone herself, and having it crafted into her ring. Her partner embraced the wish, agreeing to put any proposal on hold until she could complete her mission. After completing graduate school this summer, Fox finally set aside the time to pursue it. The Journey to Arkansas Fox traveled to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, a 37-acre volcanic field, where visitors are allowed to hunt for natural diamonds and keep whatever they find. The park, famous for its 'finders keepers' policy, has produced thousands of gems since it opened to the public in 1972. Fox dedicated nearly three weeks to the search, coming each morning and combing the dusty, sunbaked ground for anything that caught the light. She worked methodically, scanning plowed rows and shallow gullies where rain often exposes hidden diamonds. Live Events The Moment of Discovery On her final day in the park, Fox was walking near an area known as the West Drain when a sudden glimmer flashed in the corner of her vision. At first, she thought it was a glint of dew on a spiderweb. But as she stooped down, the 'web' turned out to be a rough, uncut diamond, its edges sparkling in the morning sun. Park officials later confirmed it was a 2.3-carat white diamond, one of the largest diamonds found there in 2025. The find left Fox overwhelmed, laughing, crying, and amazement all at once. More Than Just a Gem She decided to call the stone the 'Fox-Ballou Diamond,' combining her last name with her partner's. The plan is to cut and polish it before setting it into her engagement ring. For Fox, the diamond's significance is less about market price and more about the journey it represents. 'You can't buy the experience of finding it,' she told her friends afterward, describing that the process of searching for weeks and not giving up felt symbolic of the work needed to build a strong marriage. The Park's Diamond-Hunting Culture Crater of Diamonds attracts treasure seekers globally. Some bring elaborate sifting equipment; others simply walk and hope for a flash of sunlight on stone by scanning the ground. Weather plays a big role diamonds are often easiest to spot after rain clears away the surface dirt. FAQs: Q1. What is the Crater of Diamonds State Park? A1. A public park in Arkansas where visitors can search for natural diamonds and keep what they discovered. Q2. Is there an entry fee for the park? A2. Yes, but it's generally modest compared to the experience provided.
New York Times
4 days ago
- New York Times
With a Shovel and a Dream, Woman Finds 2.3 Carat Diamond in Arkansas
By the end of her trip, Micherre Fox had almost made peace with the fact that she would leave Arkansas with nothing but bug bites and tattered hiking boots. For three weeks, Ms. Fox, who lives in Manhattan, had been camping at Crater of Diamonds State Park and going out to dig for gems each day. She rose before dawn, paid the $15 entry fee, walked the half-mile to the fields with her battered tools, and dug, sifted and rinsed until her hands ached. She was on a mission: to find a diamond for her engagement ring. Wake, walk, work, hope. Repeat. On her last day there, she slept in and planned to search for an amethyst instead. 'I was coming to terms with the fact I was likely leaving without a diamond,' she said. But then, as she carried her fourth bucket of dirt to the water pool where diggers rinse their finds, she saw a glimmer in a spider web on the ground, nudging it with her boot. But what looked like glistening dew did not rub off. In fact, it was a shiny stone. Later that day, after sharing the news with her boyfriend, Ms. Fox cried tears of joy: 'I'm just like: Oh my god. That was an impossible thing, and I did it and I am proud of that.' Crater of Diamonds Park officials later confirmed: Ms. Fox, 31, had found a 2.3-carat white diamond, the third-largest find this year. Of 366 diamonds registered so far in 2025, only 11 weighed more than a carat. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
