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Turn your dead loved one into diamond

Quote:

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg....lt-367x264.jpg
This picture released by LifeGem, shows one of their creations: a diamond made from the ashes of cremated remains. LifeGem uses super-hot ovens to transform ashes to graphite and then presses the stone into blue and yellow diamonds that retail for anywhere from 2,700 to 20,000 USD

CHICAGO (AFP) - Everyone said she was a gem. Now, just eight ounces of cremated remains is all it takes to turn your mother into a diamond.

In fact, there's enough carbon in those ashes to make about 20 gems. And there will still be several pounds of ashes left over to display on the mantelpiece.

So far, nobody's ordered more than 11 diamonds, said Dean VandenBiesen, vice president of operations for LifeGem, which uses super-hot ovens to transform ashes to graphite and then presses the stone into blue and yellow diamonds that retail for anywhere from 2,700 to 20,000 dollars.

"It's not for everyone," VandenBiesen admitted, adding that for those who do chose to immortalize their loved ones in jewelry, the experience is extremely positive.

"We have people that approach us who have just experienced a tragedy and they say I can't wait, I'm so excited about this," he said. "In the field of death care, when someone says I'm really excited about this, I think we've achieved what we wanted to do which is change the culture of death."

The success of LifeGem is just one example of a radical shift in the funeral industry, said Mark Musgrove, immediate past president of the National Funeral Directors Association.

Americans are moving away from traditional funerals and are seeking instead less somber occasions that reflect the personality of the deceased.

They are also looking for alternative ways to remember their loved ones.

While a decline in religiosity has contributed to the shift, Musgrove said it's mainly a reflection of a cultural phenomenon.

"Back in the 60's the baby boomers were getting married in scuba gear," he said. "They're getting older and they have the same individualism."

A quick stroll through the exhibition hall of association's annual conference shows just how far the 11-billion dollar US funeral home industry has moved towards "personalization."

Jeff Barrette is leaning on a maroon motorcycle, his leather vest and scull and crossbones bandana a striking change from the dark suits of most of his customers.

Displayed in his booth are urns made out of the engine cylinders of Harley Davidsons and mounted on stands with epitaphs like "Rider's Last Rest," which doubles as the company's name.

"It holds 270 cubic inches -- you could fit a big guy in there," Barrette told a potential customer, before explaining that the urn's carrying case is specially constructed to fit on the back of a bike in case "you want to take your buddy for a ride."

Demand for the 1,350 dollar hand-made urns has been slow, Barrette said, but that's to be expected in a niche market.

Memorial videos and websites, however, are a bustling business, said Joe Joachim, president of funeralOne, who has signed up 1,500 funeral homes in the past five months.

"Our ultimate goal is creating the ultimate funeral experience," Joachim said. "We want to make this a celebration of life and take it to the next level."

FuneralOne offers software that allows funeral homes to help families create videos, burn them onto DVDs and even make personalized brochures and websites. It also offers webcasting services so people who can't make the funeral can watch online.

The two-and-a-half-year-old company has recently partnered with another firm which makes solar-powered video screens that can be mounted on a tombstone and play a 5 to 10 minute tribute.

The 7-inch (18 cm) serenity panels will hit the market in January and Vidstone and chief executive officer Sergio Aguirre said he expects to sell up to 100,000 in the first year.

"Everyone has a story to tell, and what better way than to share it?" he said.

Sorry, I don't have the link for this, found it at another forum and the poster didn't provide one.

Any way. So this idea of turning your loved one to a diamond, does it strike any one else as a bit disrepectful to the deceased? I've always believed that a person should have a dignified death and should be remained that way, be it in bones or ash. Being turned into an accessory...well...it doesn't spell out "respect" for me.

Oh, and would you do this to your deceased loved one??

Wow. Hmm. Well. This is mighty strange to me. I'm not so sure about this. I have a loved one who passed recently. He requested the ashes over the ocean deal.
I can't imagine taking his ashes to some buisness and saying "Here. Turn him into a ring"

:hmm: Yeah. I'm not really feeling this idea. The only way I could do this to a loved one is if they absolutely wanted it. It would have to be planned out long before death.

See I don't even know what I am talking about. This is just too strange. It does seem a little disrespectful. You would think that laying the body to rest would be a better way for closure rather than wearing the person. :hmm:

I think it's interesting...but a little creepy. I think it might be kind of cool to have a ring made from your greatgreatgreat grandmother...but then it might not mean to my grand children what it means to me..since 4 generations from now, they will have never have met me...

I will have to ponder it.

I wonder if a 'dead... excuse me, LifeGem' is of comparable price to run of the mill regular diamond of the same size? I'd want some sort of discount, I mean, after all, I'm providing the ingredients, right?

In truth, I see no problem with this at all. It's slightly creepier than keeping around the odd knick-knack that reminds you of grandma, but less creepy than keeping her ashes on display on a bookcase somewhere.

Quote:

"Our ultimate goal is creating the ultimate funeral experience," Joachim said. "We want to make this a celebration of life and take it to the next level."

That is the creepiest thing I read in the article. That and the reference to 'death care.'

That's just fucking creepy, as veruca says...

It's kinda like the stories one hears about people carrying around little vials of ashes or blood...

<SHUDDER>

Mr Mephisto

I now know what I want to have happen to my remains!

Take my ashes, treat them with enough heat and pressure to resemble the Victorian ideal of Hell, and turn me into a diamond.

I would like the diamond to be passed from generation to generation.

Oh, I just thought of something very cool:
Add the "Voodoo Package" onto the price of my LifeGem for the low price of 2995.95$ and fly in an authentic Voodoo priest that will catch my soul and place it in the diamond. Now I can really continue to be with my loved ones! And since Diamonds last forever, my soul will be permanently trapped in this beautiful, stunning piece of haunted jewelry. Will I be a benevolent ghost, granting wishes to whomever wears me? Or will I be spiteful, and curse those unfortunate enough to come into contact with me? Lets wait and see! :lol:

If my successors have the money laying around, I could honestly care less what they do with my ashes -- but they could at least be fashionable about it!

Honestly, I think it's a neat idea.. your ring finger is the closest to your heart, thought the Greeks. Talk about carrying the memory of the deceased around -- literally.

Turn something useless (ashes) into something pretty? I say sign me up!

I like this idea... there are all kinds of people that keep their loved one's ashes in an urn on the mantel... why not turn them into an heirloom?

And how is this *more* disrespectful than say burying ashes in a hole in the ground or launching them into space? It's just another option.

I'd prefer my body be useful when I die, like giving any needed body parts, then placed in some wilderness to return to the soil.

In practice, it sounds like a big waste of energy resources. In theory though, I love it! To have your corporeal remains distilled into a lump of beautiful carbon. If you were ugly in life, you can be beautiful in the afterlife.

A: "Wow! What a beautiful diamond!"
B: "Why thank you, it's my mom"
A: "Your mom gave you that?"
B: Awkward silence....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rippley

A: "Wow! What a beautiful diamond!"
B: "Why thank you, it's my mom"
A: "Your mom gave you that?"
B: Awkward silence....

HAHA awesome. :thumbsup:

Holy crap this kicks ass. Going to give serious thought into doing this, unless it becomes outlawed for one reason or another by the time I finally expire >.>

How much weight would I have to pack on to leave myself as something the size of the Hope Diamond?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlatan

How much weight would I have to pack on to leave myself as something the size of the Hope Diamond?

"LifeGem needs just eight ounces of those precious ashes to transform a loved one into a diamond. Actually, enough carbon is present to make quite a few gems -- maybe 20 -- with several pounds of ashes left over to scatter to the winds" according to Wired. This was news back in 2002... Wired News: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Diamonds

We should turn dead celebrities into jewelry and then auction them off on ebay.

"Hey I got Ice-T as my ice"

I think a diamond might be a bit more respectable than a frisbee.

http://www.discgolfassoc.com/printer...1yearmemp.html

But hey, it's his wishes.

Wasn't this story out last year?

Plus, imagine how funny it would be to piss off your recently decreased wife by turning her body into a diamond ring and use it to propose to your new girlfriend

Ive got a dead cat that was cremated, if I could get a sweet ring for it......

I can see all the rappers now wearing dead relatives as their new Bling-Bling.

For those of you thinkig of making a business out of your gramp's ashes, take a look at these prices http://www.lifegem.com/secondary/LGPrices2006.aspx

I can see it now "whats that one piece that is stick straight up"??

it happens every morning---:D

I think it is neat. I was very near and dear to my grandfather, and he was very near and dear to me. He was buried when he passed. Honestly, I have not been to visit the site. I don't feel like I am close to him when I visit his body that is buried six feet under. It seems impersonal and uncomfortable.

If he had been turned into ashes, I would also feel uncomfortable with them displayed on my mantel. Turning them into a gem would be a wonderful token to have him remembered by. It could be a family heirloom, whether or not the people four generations down the line had met him or not. Either that, or I could be buried wearing it. I think it is better than having your body decompose in the bellies of bugs.

And as for me, I think that when the time comes what happens with my body when I am deceased will be the least of my worries. It isn't how the body is kept, but how the memories are kept that matters to me. As long as my family members will remember me with kindness and love, I will know that my memorial is a good one.

Your body is just that- your body. I happen to believe that the things that make me who I am and what people will remember me for have nothing to do with the bones and muscles and skin and other things that hold me together.

However, I would give up all usable organs before agreeing to anything- I won't need them anymore.

I think it's kind of a cool idea, as long as there were strict rules to regulate making sure my new ring wasn't composed of someone else's ashes oO