Ash to diamond is latest niche in funeral trade
August 31, 2008
By Sam Cage
And with prices starting at less than €5 000 (R57 000), the jewels are not solely the preserve of the jet set.
"Some people find it helpful to go to the cemetery and grieve, and they leave their grief in the cemetery," says Algordanza chairman Veit Brimer. "There are some people who … do not want to have this farewell."
The technology for making artificial diamonds was pioneered by General Electric in the 1950s. It mirrors nature by subjecting carbon to huge pressure and temperature.
Algordanza is one of a handful of artificial diamond makers that have sprung up as the technology has improved.
US-based LifeGem and Britain's Phoenix Diamonds offer diamonds made from hair, which contains more carbon than ashes. A gem can be created from the hair of a living person, or from someone who has been buried rather than cremated. LifeGem even offers diamonds made from dead pets.
"Some people find it is a great honour and remembrance," says Laura Simanton at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
Synthetic diamonds have become so common that GIA grades their quality, so buyers can assess what they are getting compared with a natural diamond. GIA engraves the word "synthetic" on all artificial diamonds it grades.
Brimer first saw a business opportunity in remembrance diamonds after meeting a Russian chemist, who explained how gems could be created in a laboratory. These days the company is creating about 60 a month, which Brimer attributes to word-of-mouth recommendations and media coverage, as Algordanza does not advertise.
Each one takes between three weeks and three months to create, says chemist Nesimi Oner in one of Algordanza's laboratories.
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