Eagle-eyed gem hunters descend on Lincolnshire village as £12k diamond is dropped from sky
GEM hunters have descended on a quaint Lincolnshire village in the hope of hunting out a 1.14carat diamond that fell from SPACE.
It is claimed the diamond – worth in excess of £12,000 – was sent into the atmosphere by a London jewellery company.
Dangling from a helium balloon, big-whigs from the 77 Diamonds store launched the sparkling jewel into the skies over Derbyshire with a little help from the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
The jewel stayed in the air for more than 150 minutes, travelling over 60 miles.
Whoever finds our diamond really does get to keep it, so we are encouraging the general public to go out and start searching for it
But as the floating precious stone – tracked by GPS technology – rose to a height of 20kilometres, the balloon guiding its ascend burst and dropped its pricey prize back to Earth.
77 Diamonds co-founder Tobias Kormind, said: “77 Diamonds has a long history of helping people to find the perfect diamond for an extra-special event in their lives.
"Whoever finds our diamond really does get to keep it, so we are encouraging the general public to go out and start searching for it.
Quite fancy a road trip to Lincolnshire tomorrow. You never know what might fall out they sky. #treasurehunt #DiamondInTheSky #kerrching
— MsAmanda (@MsAmanda84) August 7, 2014
There's a £12k diamond to be found within 5 miles of Lea village #Lincolnshire @77Diamonds #DiamondInTheSky... pic.twitter.com/WUgua4ZztI
— ES Homes & Property (@HomesProperty) August 8, 2014
Close up photo of the box containing the diamond (before it was launched)! #DiamondInTheSky pic.twitter.com/nfaSP60Yz4
— 77 Diamonds (@77Diamonds) August 9, 2014
#DiamondInTheSky @77Diamonds So 250 miles in 2 days and nearly every single public road east of the river travelled. pic.twitter.com/ZO7oVflpX0
— Will (@UkPacmanchamp) August 8, 2014
@77Diamonds Been here since 6 pic.twitter.com/P9s3ch46aC
— Will (@UkPacmanchamp) August 8, 2014
The diamond-rush was triggered once the philanthropically-minded company revealed that its finders-keepers diamond with-the-RRP-of-a-small-car now resides within a five-mile radius of the village of Lea, in Lincolnshire.
A stream of tweets document the ongoing chase for the costly diamond.
The company have told eagle-eyed stone-searchers, heading into the village, located close to Gainsborough, should be on the look-out for a “popped white balloon and a bright orange parachute attached to a red and silver box".