One 12-year-old boy found out the literal meaning of "diamond in the rough" when he stumbled upon such a valuable gem while vacationing.
North Carolina tourist Michael Dettlaff was exploring Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park with his family on July 31 when he spied the 5.16-carat "honey brown diamond," according to CNN.
Open to the public since becoming a state park in 1972, visitors are free to search Crater of Diamonds' 37.5-acre field to their heart's content. And they get to keep whatever they find.
While small diamonds are discovered with some regularity at the park, Michael said he was cautioned to keep expectations low.
"What they tell you you’re going to find is these little diamonds [that are] so small,” Michael told ABC News. “I kind of expected to maybe get a couple of those."
In fact, it took only a few minutes for Michael to make his record-breaking discovery.
“We were probably there about 10 minutes and I was looking around on the ground and found it on top,” he said. “It was very glassy. Very smooth.”
Of the thousands of gems that have been found in the diamond field, Michael's stone -- which he named "God's Glory" -- weighed in as the 27th largest diamond ever found there, according to The Associated Press.
"It is thrilling any time a child finds a diamond here," Park Interpreter Waymon Cox told the AP. "Michael was excited to have found his own diamond, as just about any boy would be, but he was absolutely awestruck when he realized its significance."