Man finds very rare 834-carat sapphire size of 'small child’s fist’ on walk

Most of us have fantasised about finding treasure, but even those who've got lucky are unlikely to have found a find as spectacular as a 834-carat sapphire.

This is exactly what happened to Matt Betteridge, from Australia, who made the find of a lifetime while out on an evening walk when he noticed a 'glimmer sticking out of the dirt'.

He understandably went on to investigate the find on the mining claim where he lives, but because he's used to finding more treasure than most people, he back to his camp to get his phone so he could document it.

Take a look at the stunning find below:

But we doubt he'd have left the sapphire alone for even one second if he'd known exactly how big and valuable the discovery was.

It was made even more remarkable by the fact that someone else had been digging for gems in the area, but had bizarrely missed the gem, allowing Matt to find it.

As reported by the MailOnline, the sapphire was the size of a 'small child's fist' and is worth an estimated $12,500.

When the treasure hunter returned to dig it out of the ground, he said: "I don't think you know the level of restraint it takes to not dig these sapphires out when I find them."

Matt went on to upload the footage of his discovery on TikTok, where, showing off the jewel, he said: "See the sparkle on that."

"Ooh, it's got some size," he added as he scratched around in the dirt. "Oh, look at that. Holy dooley."

"What the hell, guys. I just topped my biggest one again. What the hell. Sorry, I can't even speak. Look at that."

@betteridge_sapphires/TikTok

Needless to say, TikTok users had a lot to say about the incredible find, with one user pleading with Matt not to cut the sapphire up into smaller gems.

They wrote: "that cat be real ... I know it is but daaaaaaaaamn bro !!! please never cut these smaller.. polish them big and proud [sic]."

A second observed: "there's another to the left between the two rocks... go watch it again you can see the shine! [sic]"

"WOWWWWW! I used to go fossicking as a teen. Great find!!! Congrats!!! [sic]" wrote a third while a fourth added: "I just got so excited with you!!! [sic]"

Matt went on to reveal that he has no plans to sell the sapphire and will be keeping it as a part of his private collection.

If you'd like to see what the sapphire looks like cleaned up, you can do so on Matt's TikTok page, where he documents his many remarkable finds.

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