Companies Making Small Fortunes Turning Deceased Relatives Into Diamonds
Posted August 29, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When someone dies, it’s understandable that loved ones want to remember them.
Some look at photographs, others at home movies and a few even save the ashes of the dearly departed in an urn.
And then there’s this trend, which not only seeks to bring you closer to someone long gone but may just creep you out a bit – wearing them.
It’s not quite as weird as it sounds. Several companies have sprung up that create artificial diamonds out of the remains of a dead relative or friend, which the bereaved can then wear or use to remember them by.
You might recoil at the prospect at first. But the firms that have pioneered the technique now say they’re making a lot of money at it and it’s growing in popularity.
The process involves taking the carbon in hair or ashes – the former contains more of the substance than the latter – from the late person and subjecting it to massive temperatures and pressure, the same method nature uses to turn out the gems. Only this happens a lot faster.
It takes between three weeks and three months to turn out the finished product, which you might call the crown jewel in the companies’ line of services.
One of the largest such firms is Algordanza – which means “remembrance” in the Romansch language – based in Switzerland. Its creators don’t think there’s anything odd in the concept at all.
“Some people find it helpful to go to the cemetery and grieve, and they leave their grief in the cemetery,” explains chair Veit Brimer. “There are some people who, for whatever reason, do not want to have this farewell.”
People actually travel from around the worlds to his office in the city of Chur to make the arrangements and bring the necessary samples.
“Astonishingly these are mainly Christian people,” notes Brimer. “They say: ‘Why should I say goodbye? I’ll see my husband in 15 years in heaven anyway.'”
Algordanza isn’t alone in this death-defying diamond line. A U.S. firm called LifeGem and another in Britain known as Phoenix Diamonds can also give a passed loved one a familiar ring. And the American company – which uses the slogan “because love lives on” – has branched out, offering the service for pets, as well.
“Some people find it is a great honor and remembrance,” explains Laura Simanton at the Gemological Institute of America.
So what do people do with the jewellery once it’s finally made? Some wear it. Others make pendants out of it. One woman carries the ring made from her husband’s remains in her handbag. Another had hers mounted on a table in a local pub where her hubby used to hang out.
Algordanza doesn’t advertise and gets by solely on word of mouth. And yet they’ve never been busier. Even Brimer is amazed at the response. When the company started in 2004, they sold just a single diamond. Now they’re making up to 60 a month.
So how much will this flash from your past cost you? Algordanza doesn’t list its prices online but LifeGem does. A diamond that weighs between .20-.29 carats will set you back US$3,200. Something in the middle is around $11,900.
And if you want the biggest bauble they can make – 1.50 carat and above – you’d better hope your loved one left you a bundle. The largest diamonds run to $25,000.
And that likely doesn’t include the tax. After all, you know what they say about death and taxes.
In this case, these money making companies have found a way to combine both.
Photo courtesy: LifeGem
