Origin of name
The diamond gets its name from the town of origin of the
finder/owner of the diamond, Mr. W.W. Johnson of Amarillo, Texas, who
discovered the diamond in 1975, at the world's one and only diamond mine
open to the public, where one could search for diamonds after paying a
nominal fee and keep what you find.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The Amarillo Starlight diamond is a 7.54-carat,
marquise-cut, white diamond of unknown color and clarity grades.
If the diamond is an absolutely colorless diamond also
known as a D-color diamond, it is a Type IIa, which are said to be
chemically pure and structurally perfect diamonds. Factors that can cause
color in diamonds are absent in these Type IIa diamonds. Hence their
absolutely colorless nature. Two important factors that can cause color in
diamonds are presence of trace quantities of impurities in the crystal and
plastic distortion of the crystal.
If on the other hand the diamond is near colorless or has
at least a tinge of yellow, the diamond becomes a Type Ia diamond, in which
the color is caused by trace quantities if nitrogen atoms being present in
the crystal. Nitrogen atoms present as aggregates of odd numbers can impart
a pale to medium yellow color to diamonds. Such diamonds are known as Type
Ia. If nitrogen atoms are scattered as single atoms in the crystal they
impart an intense yellow color to the diamonds such as canary yellow. These
diamonds are known as Type Ib.
History
The Amarillo Star rough diamond, a 16.37-carat white
stone was discovered in 1975 by W. W. Johnson of Amarillo, Texas, while he
was on vacation with his family, at the Crater of Diamonds State park, in
Arkansas. Mr. Johnson decided to take his family out on the popular diamond
searching adventure in the park, a pastime in which all visitors to the park
usually engage in, and was rewarded with this unusual and impressive find.
The 16.37-carat white rough diamond became the largest
diamond ever unearthed by a park visitor following the Crater's
establishment as a state park in 1972. The diamond still holds this record
up to date. In keeping with the park's policy that "finders are keepers" Mr.
Johnson became the owner of the diamond. He subsequently got the diamond cut
into a marquise-shape weighing 7.54 carats, with the inevitable loss of 8.83
carats. Such losses are common in the processing of diamonds, in the
attempts to achieve the best quality diamonds, with the maximum fire and
brilliance.
In the list of notable diamonds discovered at the Crater
of Diamonds Park, the Amarillo Starlight occupies the 3rd position, being
the 3rd largest rough diamond discovered so far in the crater.
List of notable diamonds
discovered at the Crater of Diamonds, Arkansas, arranged in descending order
of carat weights of the rough diamonds.
|
S/N |
Name |
Year found |
Rough carat weight |
Finished carat weight |
Color |
|
1 |
Uncle Sam |
1924 |
40.23 |
12.42 |
white |
|
2 |
Star of Murfreesboro |
1964 |
34.25 |
uncut |
blue |
|
3 |
Amarillo Starlight |
1975 |
16.37 |
7.54 |
white |
|
4 |
Star of Arkansas |
1956 |
15.33 |
8.27 |
white |
|
5 |
Star of Shreveport |
1981 |
8.82 |
uncut |
white |
|
6 |
Lamle diamond |
1978 |
8.61 |
|
brown |
|
7 |
Connel diamond |
1986 |
7.95 |
|
white |
|
8 |
Dicikinson/Stevens diamond |
1998 |
7.28 |
uncut |
yellow |
|
9 |
Cooper diamond |
1997 |
6.72 |
uncut |
brown |
|
10 |
Gary Moore diamond |
1960 |
6.43 |
uncut |
canary |
|
11 |
Lee diamond |
1988 |
6.30 |
|
white |
|
12 |
Newman diamond |
1981 |
6.25 |
|
white |
|
13 |
Fedzora diamond |
1991 |
6.23 |
|
white |
|
14 |
Stockton diamond |
1981 |
6.20 |
|
white |
|
15 |
Schall diamond |
1981 |
6.07 |
|
white |
|
16 |
Cooper diamond |
1997 |
6.00 |
|
brown |
|
17 |
Khan Canary |
1977 |
4.25 |
uncut |
canary |
|
18 |
Strawn Wagner diamond |
1990 |
3.03 |
1.09 |
white |
History of the Crater of
Diamonds State Park
The history of the Crater of Diamonds State Park can be
divided into three periods :-
1) First period - 1906 to 1952. Period of unsuccessful
commercial mining.
2) Second period - 1952 to 1972. Period of development as
a privately owned tourist attraction, known as the Crater of Diamonds.
3) Third Period - 1972 to date. Period of development as
a state-sponsored tourist attraction, known as the Crater of Diamonds State
Park.
1) First period - This period extends from the time of
discovery of diamonds in the crater in 1906 up to the time the two mining
companies ceased their activities in 1952. Diamonds were first discovered
accidentally on the site in 1906 by a farmer named John Huddleston, whose
farm was situated on the site. In the unprecedented diamond rush that
followed in the immediate aftermath of the accidental discovery, Mr.
Huddleston's property escalated in value, and he was able to dispose of his
farm for $ 36.000, to a diamond mining company who immediately closed the
farm area to the public. Within a few years the entire land covering the
eroded surface of the Prairie Creek Kimberlite Pipe, was acquired by two
rival companies, the Arkansas Diamond Company and the Ozark Diamond Mines
Corporation.
The two companies engaged in sporadic mining activity,
which was hampered by mismanagement, lack of finance, court cases and
sabotage. Moreover it became apparent that the turn out of the mine was not
sufficient to sustain the economic viability of the project. The diamonds
produced were smaller in size, even though quality-wise they were
comparatively of a higher grade, than normal. Besides, the added costs of
processing the diamonds, would not provide sufficient returns at least to
break even. The Argyle Diamond Mines in Western Australia, had faced a
similar problem at the initial stages of its production. These mines had a
enormous production of small brown diamonds, which were of a lesser quality
than the Arkansas diamonds. Yet the companies that operated these mines were
able to make the project economically viable, by going into a mutually
beneficial partnership with Indian-based diamond processing factories to
process their enormous production of small brown diamonds. While the
companies got their diamond processed at cheaper rates in India, where
labor costs were cheap compared to the rates prevailing in Australia, the
Indian diamond processing factories that were starved of rough diamonds to
keep their factories running had an enormous supply of diamonds from
Australia, which caused a boom in the diamond processing industry, and
helped provide employment to the skilled craftsmen. Argyle markets its brown
diamonds as champagne and cognac diamonds, and jewelry set with brown
diamonds have become very popular.
2) Second period - The two companies that owned the vast
37-acre site decided to form a partnership in 1952, in order to develop the
site as a tourist attraction. A novel suggestion to allow visitors to
prospect for diamonds on their own manually, using simple tools, and for a
nominal fee, allowing them to keep what they find, was adopted. The search
area was known as the "Crater of Diamonds," and with aggressive advertising,
the popularity of the site as a tourist attraction soared. Some of the well
known diamonds found by tourists during this period are the 15.33-carat Star
of Arkansas in 1956, the 6.43-carat Gary Moore diamond in 1960, and
34.25-carat Star of Murfreesboro in 1964. See table above.
3) Third period - The Crater of Diamonds was acquired by
the Arkansas State Government in 1972, and developed as a State Park, known
as the Crater of Diamonds State Park. The policy adopted by the previous
owners of the site to allow visitors to prospect for diamonds for a nominal
fee and keep what they find was continued. But facilities available to the
visitors were expanded and new facilities were added, making the site one of
the most popular tourist attractions in the nation. Facilities provided for
visitors include, camp sites, picnic sites, cafe, standard pavilion with
rest rooms, laundry, and gift shops, interpretive programs for park
visitors, and hiking trails, and an aquatic play ground called the Diamond
Springs. The interpretive programs instruct the visitors on the geology and
history of the site, techniques of looking for diamonds, tips on identifying
rough diamonds etc. Diamond mining tools are available for rent or purchase.
Diamonds are identified and certified free-of-charge by the Diamond
Discovery Center.
Today an average of 60,000 people visit the park each
year, and an average of 600 diamonds are found every year. This works out to
an average of about two diamonds each day. Over 70,000 diamonds have
been discovered in the area since 1906, out of which 25,000 were discovered
after the site became a state-owned park. The largest diamond discovered
after the crater became a state park in 1972, was the 16.37-carat white
diamond the Amarillo Starlight found in 1975, which is the subject of this
web page. At least 11 other diamonds weighing more than 6 carats have been
discovered during this period. See table above. Two of the most famous
diamonds discovered after 1972, are the 4.25-carat Khan Canary and the
3.03-carat Strawn Wagner diamonds.
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