A custom jeweler in Covington built a $4,000 diamond ring for a customer who never paid up, and instead of quietly eating the loss, he flung the ring into the woods and told the internet to go find it. That impulsive toss has since snowballed into a full-blown scavenger hunt stretching across the Northshore, with jeweler Chris Wisman now hiding a rotating mix of natural and lab-grown diamonds in parks from Covington to Mandeville to Abita Springs.
Wisman, who owns Diamond Wise in Covington, says he simply decided to fling the unpaid ring into the woods rather than let it sit in a case, telling followers, “if you find it, it’s yours.” Wisman laid out the origin story behind the giveaway in a Facebook video posted earlier this month. As NOLA.com reports, Wisman has since hidden diamonds across south Louisiana as part of a scavenger-hunt-style marketing campaign that shows no sign of slowing down.
From One Tossed Ring to a Regional Hunt
The stunt quickly evolved into something more structured. Wisman says he plans to hide a mix of natural and lab-grown diamonds in parks each week until the end of 2027, and he intends to share the hidden-diamond promotions with local businesses across the New Orleans metro and the Northshore, per the same NOLA.com report. One recent hunt took him to Mandeville, where Diamond Wise hid a 3-carat E VVS2 marquise diamond on September 18, telling searchers that no climbing or digging would be necessary, according to a Facebook video posted by the store.
Wisman hid a three-carat diamond in Abita Springs last week, and the campaign has lured hundreds of diamond-hunters to small towns across the parish, the NOLA.com article notes. A TikTok video announcing the Abita Springs hide reportedly reached 177,000 views, about triple Diamond Wise’s normal social media audience. The store has also dangled a $100 cash reward for any social media user whose share or repost gets credited when a finder reports locating a hidden diamond, campaign posts from September show.
Business Payoff and Public Safety Concerns
Wisman estimates the brand recognition from the videos has translated into 40 to 60 pieces of jewelry sold at Diamond Wise, which opened its Covington location two years ago. He has said giving away diamonds is cheaper than running a billboard year-round, a claim that lines up with regional ad pricing: static boards outside the core run $2,000 to $4,500, premium I-10 bulletins cost $6,000 to $12,000, and digital billboards cost $3,000 to $6,500, according to outdoor advertising pricing data from DASH TWO.
The giveaway is also cheaper to pull off than it once would have been. Wholesale lab-grown diamond prices fell 26% year-over-year in 2025, with 3-carat round lab-grown stones dropping by 32%, per data published by Edahn Golan Diamond Research. That price collapse has coincided with lab-grown stones appearing in 51% of newly appraised engagement rings from January through June 2026. Median 2025 sales prices were $4,557 for lab-grown diamond rings and $12,961 for natural diamond rings, according to an industry report covered by Local News 8.
Diamond Wise says it has enough diamonds in inventory to make the ongoing project feasible. Still, the influx of searchers into small-town parks raises obvious housekeeping questions. Public safety guidance issued alongside the September announcements explicitly told searchers not to dig, climb trees, or damage property in public parks, and Wisman himself asks searchers to respect the parks and landscapes where the diamonds are hidden. He says he has fielded hundreds of phone calls about the hunts but has received few complaints so far.
What Happens If a Diamond Is Buried
The scavenger hunt also brushes up against Louisiana property law, at least in theory. Article 3420 of the Louisiana Civil Code holds that when a hidden treasure with an unknown owner turns up on someone else's land, title is split evenly between the finder and the landowner, according to Justia. Wisman describes his diamonds as items intentionally left out for the public.
The hunts are unfolding in a part of St. Tammany Parish with plenty of foot traffic and disposable income to spare. Downtown Covington's Cultural Arts District already draws an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 visitors each November for the Three Rivers Art Festival along Columbia Street, according to Visit The Northshore. St. Tammany Parish, which includes Covington, Mandeville and Abita Springs, also recorded the highest average weekly wage growth in the country in early 2026, fueled by corporate energy sector payouts, as Hoodline has reported.
Coffee Shops Could Be Next
Wisman is now looking to widen the promotion beyond his own storefront. He plans to begin working with small businesses such as coffee shops, where customers could enter a drawing for a diamond after buying a cup of coffee over a set period, according to the NOLA.com report. For now, Wisman says the campaign is fun and that Diamond Wise has no plans to stop hiding diamonds across the region anytime soon.
