Kagel Langford during his visit to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfeesboro, Arkansas, found a diamond of great value. The young man decided to name the diamond “Superman” and as a result, the Arkansas state park became more important and popular. In the same vein, previously the natural park is famous for its history, such as that of John Huddlestone and is a reference for geological tourism. Waymon Cox stresses that this is a discovery that has marked a before and after in the park. Read on for the whole story.
The moment Kalel Langford’s life changed completely
Eight years ago, Kalel Langford’s life changed entirely during a family trip to the Crater of Diamonds, situated in the town of Murfreesboro, Arkansas. Back that day, the teenager found a 7.44-carat diamond, valued at almost $1 million. He found it near a stream, the biggest brown diamond found in the park since 1978, according to the official state park website.
“It was just a few inches from a stream, surrounded by a bunch of other rocks about the same size,” his father said.
He took the gem and called to his dad Craig Langford, who was searching in the same area.
According to Craig Langford, “We had only been at the park for about 30 minutes when he found it. Its color was so dark that we weren’t sure if it was a diamond, but we knew we needed to have it looked at.”
The family stopped by the Diamond Discovery Center to get their finds identified before leaving the park, and Kalel was speechless to get to know he had found one of the biggest diamonds in the park’s history.
The superhero diamond find
Speaking to local outlets including the Arkansas Times, Kalel showed that the name he gave his prized find: ‘Superman’ – his favorite superhero. Kalel gave this name to his gem because Superman’s Diamond and for his unique connection to the DC Comics superhero.
Craig Langford explained that, “When we chose to name him Kalel, we didn’t realize that [Kal-El] was also Superman’s birthname.”
At the time asked about his plans for Superman’s Diamond, Kalel explains that he plans to have it as a souvenir of his first visit to Crater of Diamonds State Park. Wondering how a diamond’s worth is determined?
According to Cox, “This diamond is a truly extraordinary find. It was Kalel’s dream to visit the Crater of Diamonds State Park, and now he will always be part of this park’s remarkable history. We are all very happy for him.”
The diamond is the biggest certifed at the Arkansas State Park since June 24, 2015, when Colorado resident Bobbie Oskarson found an 8.52-carat white diamond that she named the Esperanza. It is the largest brown diamond registered in almost 40 years, topped in weight only by an 8.61-carat brown diamond discovered by Betty Lamle, of Hitchcock, OK in 1978.
Quick Facts about Crater of Diamonds State Park
Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The three most usual colors discovered at Crater of Diamonds State Park are white, brown, and yellow, in that order.
In total, more than 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since the first diamonds were found here in 1906 by John Huddleston, a farmer who was the owner of the land long before it became an Arkansas State Park in 1972.
The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed here in 1924 back during an early mining operation. Known as the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. Other remarkable diamonds found by visitors to the state park include the Amarillo Starlight, a 16.37-carat white diamond discovered in 1975, which ranks as the largest diamond ever found by a park visitor.