Washington man finds 2.2-carat diamond for engagement ring at Arkansas state park
Since he was in eighth grade, Christian Linden has wanted to make his own engagement ring using gold and gemstones he mined himself.
While mining at Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park earlier this month, Linden, from Poulsbo, Washington, found a 2.20-carat yellow diamond, the largest diamond found at the park since last October, according to a release from Arkansas State Parks.
Once he had enough gold for the engagement ring, he took a cross-country journey to Arkansas to mine gemstones, using equipment he and a friend made themselves and tested in Montana along the way.
Linden and his friend spent three days at the Crater of Diamonds State Park wet sifting for gemstones when he saw the yellow diamond.
Christian Linden, 26, from Poulsbo, Washington, recently found a 2.2-carat yellow diamond at Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park. (Arkansas State Parks)
"I saw it shining as soon as I turned the screen over and immediately knew it was a diamond," Linden said, according to the release. "I was shaking so bad, I asked my buddy to grab it out of the gravel for me!"
