Late To The Party But Better Late Than Never

[Joe D.]

  I have yet to go there, but it's on my list to do! Good luck on the three C's! I hope it's a high end one!👍👍

[okara gold]

1 hour ago, mn90403 said:

I've hunted for diamonds in Arkansas.  That is a fun trip.

I went to the diamond grounds in Arkansas quite a few years ago. I met 2 guys who were digging deep holes by hand and were quite experienced in the whole process. They were a bit secretive and were probably badgered by the casual tourists and not too talkative.  I was in the process of returning from a successful Winter gold nugget hunt in Arizona. I asked them if they ever saw raw gold nuggets and they said no. After I showed them the nuggets they were more than happy to show me just what they were looking for, how they were doing it and what they were finding. Haven’t been back since but it’s on my soon to do bucket list. 

[Joe D.]

OG,

   Nice way to warm up the locals! Feel free to share what you learned from them!😁👍👍

[okara gold]

I’m going to guess that around 3 or 4 feet deep they were looking for a “black” band of soil/ small gravel/ grit, that was said to contain the ancient diamond bearing gravels. A little hard to describe but I saw the dark bands and they were in various thickness of 2 to 5 inches thick. They intently mined these bands and would use classifying screens and water to segregate the gravels. They showed me diamonds “in the rough” and once seen are pretty much unmistakable from the surrounding gravel matrix. There is a lot of quartz that can fool you if you’re not schooled properly. 

[Joe D.]

Wow,

That's pretty deep for a casual trip!

  I guess to get to the good stuff, you have to be ready to work for it!

Where have we heard that before?? 

. Do they rent backhoes there??🤣👍👍

[Compass]

16 hours ago, mn90403 said:

I do have a diamond tester and this tester heats up in the proper way so I'm saying it is a diamond and will take it to someone professional to give me details about clarity, cut, carat and color.

I've hunted for diamonds in Arkansas.  That is a fun trip.

If you have good loupe you should check the edge of the diamond for a laser imprint. Even with a high powered loupe it may still be challenging to see because angles and lighting are factors. A few years ago I found a large diamond ring. I wasn't sure about the quality but I was able to find an old "EGL" laser serial number which was my first real indication that I had a special find.

"EGL" stands for European Gemological Laboratories which is now defunct but in this country you might be looking for a "GIA" (Gemological Institute of America) laser engraving. I took my diamond to the GIA labs in Carlsbad, California and had it assessed and had an additional laser engraving done with a GIA mark.

I can't emphasize enough how small and how difficult it is to find these laser engravings. My loupe is 40X magnification and the letters and numbers looked like little dark specks when I first spotted them and I really had to focus and concentrate to actually make them out.

Good luck!!!

[mn90403]

Compass,

Thanks for making me look.  It had never occurred to me that is where they certify them.  I looked closely and in the first couple of turns I saw the little 'ghost' number.  It was difficult to keep in focus and I couldn't really read it but it was/is engraved on the edge of the diamond!  What a small edge to begin with.

I didn't think this particular diamond would be marked.  I have a computer microscope I should try to read it and then see if there is a guide that values by what I read.

Mitchel

[Compass]

39 minutes ago, mn90403 said:

Compass,

Thanks for making me look.  It had never occurred to me that is where they certify them.  I looked closely and in the first couple of turns I saw the little 'ghost' number.  It was difficult to keep in focus and I couldn't really read it but it was/is engraved on the edge of the diamond!  What a small edge to begin with.

I didn't think this particular diamond would be marked.  I have a computer microscope I should try to read it and then see if there is a guide that values by what I read.

Mitchel

That's awesome Mitchel! If it has "GIA" followed by some numbers I believe that there is a GIA website where you can enter the number and get the assessment information (4 c's).

[mn90403]

You know the 'girdle' is so small and the 'flat edge' is tiny also.  It kinda picks up light like a prism to help you see it.