Diamonds Created From the Remains of Your Loved One

If a person chooses to be cremated instead of having a traditional burial, their ashes are usually scattered over a certain area, or kept on a shelf, or even buried. But now there is a US-based company that offers a more exotic alternative concerning what to do with a person's ashes: A diamond can be created from them.

According to the LifeGem web site, they will extract carbon from the ashes of human remains and put it through a process that creates either a yellow or a blue diamond (colorless ones are not yet available). The client can then choose how the stone is to be cut, shaped, and set. (Diamonds can even be made from the remains of a pet.)

How exactly are LifeGem diamonds created? Four years of research with prominent scientists went into the process, which is based on the simple fact that humans and diamonds are both carbon-based. The jewels are created in this manner: First, carbon is extracted from the person's ashes, then it is heated to produce a block of graphite. The graphite is then placed into a diamond press where high pressure and more heat form a diamond crystal. The longer the graphite stays in the press, the larger the diamond crystal produced. The crystal is then cut according to the client's specifications. The choices for cuts are princess, radiant, or round, while the sizes range from .2 carats to 1.25 carats (3.0 carats are expected in the future).

The LifeGem diamond is graded and inspected by the Gemological Institute of America, and a certificate comes with each stone listing its characteristics of shape, weight, color, clarity, dimension, etc. The process usually requires six months to produce a yellow diamond and nine months to produce a blue one. The shades of yellow and blue vary in intensity and are not predictable, some are very dark while others are light. Up to 100 diamonds can be made from the ashes of only one individual! The scientific process for making LifeGems is not perfect, however. Some gems will have flaws similar to natural diamonds. But the company does provide a lifetime guarantee against defects, and they also seem to place a lot of importance on ensuring that the diamonds created really do come from your loved one's remains. Prices range from $3,499 to $19,999 for a stone, while setting it costs more. There are preplanning options as well.

Now that the basic facts of LifeGem diamonds have been laid out, what are some real world opinions about them? I asked four friends for their opinions and two were positive, saying they would consider buying and wearing a LifeGem, while the other two were negative, saying they found the idea to be a little too eerie. My own opinion is that I would not want any of my family members wearing a synthetic jewel made from my ashes, even if I did choose to be cremated, which I will not (although 28% of Americans do), and I also would be hesitant to wear jewelry made from any of my loved one's remains. But everyone has their own taste as to what constitutes the macabre. While I can see how some consider wearing jewelry made from human remains to be distasteful, I can also see how it could be compared to saving a lock of someone's hair. Nevertheless, I think the LifeGem company is genuinely committed to helping people get through the grieving process, and I believe it's beneficial that they offer another way for people to remember their loved ones.