# Ashes into diamonds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369 "2015-08-30T02:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/1 "2015-08-30T02:55:00Z")
There was a blowhard at the table next to us at dinner who told the others in his group about “a billionaire who was cremated and had his ashes - which is carbon - sent to this place where they put them under super pressure and made them into a diamond for his widow.” Now this sounds implausible at best, and I took it to be total bullshit. But I’d like to hear the why of it from one of our experts . ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/2 "2015-08-30T02:59:40Z")
[LifeGem.](http://www.lifegem.com/) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/3 "2015-08-30T03:19:23Z")
What is truly brilliant about this idea is: it’s all based on faith. I’m not talking about the religious type - I mean you have to trust these guys to do what they say they do; how would anyone prove otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/4 "2015-08-30T03:28:22Z")
Wikipedia’s page on LifeGem has a very brief and not very detailed description of the process used. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LifeGem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LifeGem) > [@beowulff](#): > > What is truly brilliant about this idea is: it’s all based on faith. > I’m not talking about the religious type - I mean you have to trust these guys to do what they say they do; how would anyone prove otherwise? Some folks online have noticed that there are some differences between LifeGem’s process as described in their advertising literature and the process as described in their patents. No one has yet proven that they aren’t doing what they are saying they are doing though. ETA: Also, LifeGem isn’t the only company doing this. A google search also finds Cremation Solutions, and a Swiss company called Algordanza. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/5 "2015-08-30T03:31:38Z")
There’s a few companies out there that do this. Google will show you the claims are not BS. I have told my family I intend to do it as well - could make key chains as keepsakes. I think it’s probably cheaper than a funeral/casket/burial plot actually. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/6 "2015-08-30T04:05:59Z")
Interesting, I was just looking through the Wikipedia description. It seems that they extract pure carbon from whatever remains they are given, turning it into graphite, and then put it under pressure of about 435 tons per square inch at temperatures of 1600 to 2000°C for six to nine months, and out pops a synthetic diamond. You do indeed need to have faith that they’re doing what they say – a quick look at wholesale diamond prices reveals that a typical average 0.5 carat medium-clarity clear natural cut diamond is worth somewhere between $1000 and $1200, and their price is nearly $8000. OTOH, according to Wiki, what you get is GIA certified as a synthetic diamond. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/7 "2015-08-30T04:22:22Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > There’s a few companies out there that do this. Google will show you the claims are not BS. I have told my family I intend to do it as well - could make key chains as keepsakes. I think it’s probably cheaper than a funeral/casket/burial plot actually. Or a widower could use his late wife as part of the engagement ring for the new wife. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/8 "2015-08-30T04:31:05Z")
I first heard of this in a mystery novel, or maybe it was a short story. “Someone has stolen my husband. He was on an 18 karat gold pendant on an 18 karat gold chain…” I checked it out. The price was much higher then. I hope it will continue to go down. I would like to be a fake sapphire, myself. After I’m dead, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/9 "2015-08-30T04:34:17Z")
Are you made of aluminum? [(Sapphire is a single crystal form of corundum, Al[sub]2[/sub]O[sub]3[/sub].)](http://www.mt-berlin.com/frames_cryst/descriptions/sapphire.htm) They could turn your carbon into a synthetic fancy diamond of deep blue color, though. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/10 "2015-08-30T04:35:39Z")
Do any of these companies either publish photos of their equipment or allow outsiders (specifically, paying customers) to view the equipment and/or process? If I can buy a synthetic diamond for $1200 and sell it for $8000, I have to assume more than one person can see the value in investing in laboratory and industrial equipment that is strictly for show. I would love to see their electric bills, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/11 "2015-08-30T05:27:09Z")
Well let’s consider the fact that all Carbon atoms are identical and any trace of DNA or organic material that didn’t get destroyed by cremation will be destroyed by six months of high temperature. With that in mind they would be pretty silly to bother to actually put ashes from the loved ones into the diamonds. If you want a memorial that actually contains some matter from the person in question then how about a BioUrn? > **[Bios Urn - The world's first biodegradable urn](https://urnabios.com/)** > > Bios Urn is the world's first biodegradable urn designed to convert you into a tree after life. The tree urn is a return to life through nature. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/12 "2015-08-30T05:54:55Z")
That is an even more pathetic example of re-selling a common product as something special and unique for a dead person. A cardboard box with soil and a pine cone (with or without cremains) is not something special. I noticed the signage on an old brick building that looks like it was built as a single engine firehouse. It is now an “All Faiths” (aka: we’re in it for the money) crematorium. It does not appear to be an open-to-walk-ins business, but am tempted to inquire about their service - the local version of the Neptune (burn and scatter) Society charges $1600 for pre-paid scatter-over-the-forest/mountain service. I saw a Neptune van in service once. Not impressed. I wonder about the actual cost of the basic ‘here’s a body - burn it and put the cremains in a box’ service. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/13 "2015-08-30T05:59:19Z")
I also remember the story of a suicide several years ago. The man was a pilot and offered a ‘scatter your loved ones’ service. When ‘the authorities’ opened his hanger, they found the walls lined with boxes of cremains. Never heard what they did with them. Another case of ‘something you just quietly dispose of’ - there was absolutely no reason to put the survivors through the ‘one of these was your mother - choose one and take it’ ordeal. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/14 "2015-08-30T08:29:03Z")
Freakonomics did an [expose on pet cremation companies](http://freakonomics.com/2013/10/14/the-troubled-cremation-of-stevie-the-cat-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/), none of which returned the cremains of your actual pet back to you. Given the lack of visibility into the process, there must be a strong pressure towards expediency. I don’t doubt many of the companies in this space are cutting corners. Then again, does it really matter? ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/15 "2015-08-30T08:38:18Z")
I’m not one for jewellery; perhaps they could make me into a diamond drill bit. Or a heat sink. How about some abrasive powder. It would be nice to earn one’s keep. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Simple\_Mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Mind)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/16 "2015-08-30T09:36:37Z")
They have a good picture of their lab on their home page. [LifeGem - Ashes to Diamonds](http://www.lifegem.com/#lab) and more information in this PDF. [http://www.lifegem.com/images/LifeGem\_Web\_Brochure\_Current.pdf](http://www.lifegem.com/images/LifeGem_Web_Brochure_Current.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/17 "2015-08-30T14:07:12Z")
I am confused how this is supposed to work. Wouldn’t any carbon in the body be turned into CO2 and go up the smokestack during cremation? Aren’t the ashes just the non-combustible (typically metal oxides) residue that results from burning? Don’t these ashes act as impurities in a pure crystal like a diamond and, even if you were successful in making a diamond, it would look just like a dark grey rock? The wikipedia article mentions diamonds made from locks of Beethoven’s hair. Is any hair going to remain after cremation? I can believe carbon being extracted from a person’s remains, but not once they have been cremated. Even if there was enough carbon in the remains to produce a diamond, extracting it from all of the other stuff I would think would be difficult. Bulk graphite is very cheap (and there would be no way to be able to tell the difference). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/18 "2015-08-30T14:44:48Z")
The average chemical composition is known, but the best estimate [comes with this caveat](http://www.scattering-ashes.co.uk/general/cremation-ashes-chemicalcompostion/#sthash.RZkLJ5WS.dpuf): > [@](#): > > The inorganic compounds may remain as phosphates, sulfates, chlorides or carbonates, or may be partially converted to oxides. The carbon from the carbonates and the oxygen from the oxides and carbonates are not included in the data presented. Those elements are not determined by the testing procedures used for this report. The estimated composition is as follows: > [@](#): > > Phosphate 47.5% Calcium 25.3% Sulfate (Sulphate) 11.00% Potassium 3.69% Sodium 1.12% Chloride 1.00% Silica 0.9% Aluminum Oxide 0.72% Magnesium 0.418% Iron Oxide 0.118% Zinc 0.0342% Titanium Oxide 0.0260% Barium 0.0066% Antimony 0.0035% Chromium 0.0018% Copper 0.0017% Manganese 0.0013% Lead 0.0008% Tin 0.0005% Vanadium 0.0002% Beryllium \<0.0001% Mercury \<0.00001% So carbon can exist in cremains, in the form of carbonates, though this estimate does not include them. The total of the other constituents adds up to ~92%, so we can probably assume the carbonates make up about 8% of the total. The average cremated human weighs between 4 to 6 pounds,for an average of 5 pounds. So the carbonates would represent about .4 pounds, or about 6.4 ounces. If someone with more chemistry background than I could work out how much of a carbonate is carbon, we would know about how much carbon is available to make diamonds. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/19 "2015-08-30T16:19:12Z")
Well, color me educated. So it would appear that they’re making some sort of jewelry, but not necessarily an actual diamond? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369/20 "2015-08-30T17:09:15Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > So carbon can exist in cremains, in the form of carbonates, though this estimate does not include them. The total of the other constituents adds up to ~92%, so we can probably assume the carbonates make up about 8% of the total. The average cremated human weighs between 4 to 6 pounds,for an average of 5 pounds. So the carbonates would represent about .4 pounds, or about 6.4 ounces. If someone with more chemistry background than I could work out how much of a carbonate is carbon, we would know about how much carbon is available to make diamonds. Wikipedia quotes them as claiming that they can make about 50 1-ct diamonds from the average cremated body. Accounting for losses from the extraction and purification processes, that’s about 10 grams of pure carbon. > [@Chefguy](#): > > Well, color me educated. So it would appear that they’re making some sort of jewelry, but not necessarily an actual diamond? It’s a synthetic diamond. Some synthetics can actually have hardness and other properties superior to natural diamonds, but most of those properties have industrial rather than aesthetic value. I believe most synthetics end up in industrial applications and natural diamonds are still the most valued as gems. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashes-into-diamonds/729369.md?page=2)