Crater of Diamonds Newsletter

Diamond mine on display at Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

By Margi Jenks

The Tucson Gem and Mineral show is one of the largest held within the United States. This year was its 60^th annual show, which meant that it was the diamond anniversary. Thus, the show’s title was “60 years of Diamonds, Gems, Silver, and Gold”. Several of the main exhibits featured diamonds, including a display by the Smithsonian Museum and another of diamonds that have been found over the years at the Crater of Diamonds State Park.

Jim and Shelly Houran, from Grapevine, TX, are mineral collectors, including a collection of our Arkansas diamonds. They have displayed Crater diamonds at previous Tucson shows. This year they arranged for a Crater display case and Shelly and I put the exhibit together. The display included many famous large diamonds, including the Okie Dokie, the Bleeding Heart, and the Star of Shreveport. Several other Murfreesboro area diamond collectors also contributed their diamonds to the display. Sam and Dolly Johnson showed a collection of unique diamond shapes as well as a cut diamond necklace. Louella Terrell contributed a necklace containing one of James Archer’s large uncut yellow diamonds. Many individuals commented that the Crater diamond display was both interesting and beautiful.

Sam and Dolly Johnson at TGMS

Two other diamonds were displayed for the first time in the Crater exhibit. The Easter Sunrise 2.04 carat diamond, found by Glenn Worthington in 2009, had a prominent place. The other prominent diamond was the 3.85 carat God’s Jewel. The Houran’s had cooperated with Tana Clymer and her family from Oklahoma City, OK, to bring that beautiful diamond to the show for display. Its deep and intense yellow color amazed many of the show’s attendees.

Wagner/Roebling diamond

The Crater exhibit was next to the Smithsonian Institution’s diamond display. Included in the Smithsonian display was another beautiful yellow diamond found at the Crater of Diamonds in the 1920’s. Lee Wagner found the lovely 17.9 carat yellow gem. Wagner was brother-in-law to John Huddleston, who found the first Crater diamonds. In the 1920’s the south part of our diamond field was owned by the Arkansas Diamond Corporation of Virginia. Wagner was the mine manager, directing all operations and later becoming the security person for the mine after commercial mining shut down in the 1930’s. The 17.9 carat yellow diamond is known here at the diamond mine as the Wagner diamond. However, the Smithsonian mineralogists and gemologists call it the Roebling diamond. Washington A. Roebling, engineer of New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge and Civil War veteran, was an avid mineral and rock collector. After his death, in 1929, his son gave his collection of over 16,000 specimens to the Smithsonian Institution. The Wagner/Roebling diamond was one of the specimens in the Roebling collection and has been on display at the National Museum of Natural History for many years. It was wonderful to see it displayed at the 2014 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

Search area last plowed: End of January, 2014; Most recent significant rainstorms: over 4” total, February 1-4, 2014

Total diamonds found in 2014: 38

Diamonds registered for February 16-February 22, 2014 (100 points = 1 carat):

February 16 - Jo Likins, Covington, TN, 1.40 ct. brown; Adam Hardin, Norton, OH, 7 pt. brown, 10 pt. white

February 17 - No diamonds were registered

February 18 - Paul Wengler, Crossett, AR, 55 pt. yellow; Krystal Blake, College Station, TX, 3 pt. white

February 19 - Beth Gilbertson, Salida, CO, 3 pt. white, 5 pt. white

February 20 - Adam Hardin, Norton, OH, 24 pt. white

February 21 - No diamonds were registered

February 22 - Adam Hardin, Norton, OH, 71 pt. white; 45 pt. white; Jonathan Kafka, Plano, TX, 1.81 ct. brown