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When one thinks about death in the long term sense, tomb stones, coffins, or ashes come to mind. Well, now you can add diamonds to that last. That's right, you can make your loved ones final resting place within the walls of a diamond, rather than a coffin or urn.
Algordanza, is a company in Switzerland. They take ashes from the deceased and turn them into diamonds. It's hard for me to imagine wearing my actual grandfather around my neck, but Algorganza actually has a large world wide customer base for these “remembrance” diamonds. They get around 40-50 customer orders each month. However, it was actually here in the US that this trend began. A company named, LifeGem was the worlds first memorial diamond company. In 2006, the Chicago based company had earnings of 7.5 million dollars. Several other companies like GemSmart and Heart-In Diamond have since been started.
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How do they do it? Synthetic diamonds are not a new discovery. Some may remember H.G Wells story "The Diamond Maker," from 1911. For those that don't, diamonds are pure carbon. Since 1797 people have searched for ways to make cheaper forms of carbon into diamonds. In 1926, Dr. Willard Hershey figured out how to do just that. His work has been improved upon and perfected over the years. After a person is cremated, the remaining ashes are mostly carbon and potassium. The synthetic diamond maker will separate the carbon from the rest of the ashes and then apply pressurized heat to it. The compressed carbon becomes a graphite compound and it then heated again. The result is a synthetic diamond. This entire process takes around four weeks start to finish. LifeGem can also make their diamonds from hair.
These companies then take the synthetic diamond and make a “ remembrance ” necklace, ring, pendant, etc… Many satisfied customers claim they feel closer to their loved one this way. The price for a “remembrance” diamond starts at $4,400 and can exceed $15,000 for one carat. I don't know about all this. For me it would be odd to reform the body into something artificial. Which I guess is a moot point since I don't believe in cremation.
