# Turn Your cremated Ashes Into A Diamond? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2002, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146 "2002-08-22T22:42:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/1 "2002-08-22T22:42:20Z")
There is now a company that can turn your cremated ashes into a high quality diamond: > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. What do you think? Would you wear your SO’s cremated body in the form of a diamond on your finger? Would you want your body to sparkle on someone’s ear? I mean, I could think of worse things than being known for all eternity as “that diamond stud”. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/2 "2002-08-22T22:46:11Z")
I heard about this on the radio this morning. At first I thought it was a little freaky, but then I tought: What’s weirder, having a container full of my loved one’s ashes, burying someone and letting them get eaten by bugs, or turning them into something quite beautiful and valuable? So now I think if I had the money (isn’t it $22k for a full carat) I would do the diamond. Hmmm. But then you’d have to worry about someone stealing/selling/giving away “grandma”. So maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/3 "2002-08-22T23:09:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Hmmm. But then you’d have to worry about someone stealing/selling/giving away “grandma”. Grandma being sold at a pawn shop for drug money would be something to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/4 "2002-08-22T23:31:02Z")
Well, one of the first things I thought of was… what do they do with the rest of the ashes? It says that they can make either a .24 carat or a full carat. Also, a cremated human is more ash than you might think. A few years ago we bought a very nice jade urn for my uncle… but it was too small. The funeral home had sold us a “child-size” urn. (FWIW, this was about the same size urn you see on TV or in movies for an adult). So, what would you do with the leftovers if you went for the smaller diamond? (It’s only $4000 instead of $22000). ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/5 "2002-08-22T23:39:36Z")
“…what would you do with the leftovers if you went for the smaller diamond?” Well, mom always made meatloaf with her leftovers. But seriously folks…I think it is more of a symbolic gesture, and not necessarily a way to get rid of the whole stash. A small diamond using a couple thimbles full of ash would be more of a remembrance. The rest? Well, Timothy Leary had some of his ashes sent up into space, but most people settle for strewing them in the wind off a cliff, or at sea, or someplace the dearly departed felt happiest - although I think Disneyworld would frown on that (they are more into frozen memories). ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/6 "2002-08-22T23:47:00Z")
I think this is really neat. You can have a diamond-studded family heirloom, that’s actually the family! ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/7 "2002-08-23T00:21:11Z")
dmark, great minds think alike. i was just about to start a thread on this. luckily i did some surfing on the web first, 'cause threads i start tend to tank rather quickly. check out [www.lifegem.com](http://www.lifegem.com)!!! it seems to be a straight forward process, and you can have previously cremated people who are just lying around your house turned into diamonds. pets as well! i polled some people in work about this. the major reaction was: “eeeeewwwww, creepy!” personally i think it is a nifty idea. with the way families are spread out these days people really don’t go to cemetaries like they did way back when. also there is the accidental urn toss. so why not a diamond?!?! “ooh, what beautiful earrings!!” “why thank you! they are my father!” i have a necklace with a green stone, looks like an emerald, but it is not. it is compressed ash from mt. st. helen’s. of course coworkers of mine think that is a bit odd as well. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/8 "2002-08-23T00:23:10Z")
oops, i almost forgot. apparently you can get aboout 50-100 diamonds from one person. the only limit is cost. it starts at 4,000. and goes up from there per diamond. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/9 "2002-08-23T01:32:11Z")
…personally, I’d rather enrich the Earth than enrich the pockets of a diamond-maker. But that’s just me :). ---
**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 23, 2002, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/10 "2002-08-23T05:32:59Z")
Call me cynical, but this has scam written all over it. First, the chemistry is all wrong; diamonds, even synthetic ones, are made of carbon. Guess what happens to all the carbon in the human body when it is exposed to the heat of cremation? That’s right, it combines with oxygen and burns off as carbon dioxide, and few trace hydrocarbons. There is very little carbon in cremains (that’s what the funeral industry calls them, folks!) to make anything, let alone a diamond. [Chemical explanation of cremation](http://www.ualberta.ca/htbin/lwgate/PATHO-L/archives/patho-l.archive.1999-02/Subject/article-111.html) > [@](#): > > In the cremation of the body, first the water must boil off, since no combustion can occur at temperatures below the boiling point of water. Water accounts for about 70% of total body weight. After that, the carbon-based macromolecules begin to oxidize, breaking down to produce a variety of smaller molecules, most notably organic amines, some of which are volatile and boil or sublimate off (the familiar odors of burning meat, for instance). Other such molecules are further oxidized. Ultimately, the carbon backbone of macromolecules is oxidized completely to carbon dioxide and water vapor. Second, how would you know that the diamond they give you was made of any cremated remains (let alone _your_ loved one0, or just another synthetic diamond they bought with a fraction of the money you paid them? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/11 "2002-08-23T15:45:11Z")
It does take a long time & the science is not new: “The ash is first purified in a vacuum induction furnace at about 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit (3,000 degrees Celsius). It is then placed in a press under intense pressure and heat, replicating the forces that create a natural diamond. It takes about 16 weeks.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/12 "2002-08-23T16:51:35Z")
Ugh, put me down in the “not no, hell no” category. I’ve always thought diamonds were pretty tacky, and the whole idea creeps me out. If they could make you into Australian black opals, however, I might be persuaded to change my mind… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/13 "2002-08-23T22:39:27Z")
Tell you what, I’ll take your ashes and “turn” them into a “high quality diamond”. I’ll charge you $22k per carat. I’ll just buy a diamond, give it to you, and pocket the change, unless you can prove that it’s your dearly departed grandma 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/14 "2002-08-23T22:43:33Z")
Kind of like having your pets stuffed. Do they stuff people? Well, let’s not. ---
**Author:** ![anyrae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@anyrae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrae)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/15 "2002-08-24T13:36:15Z")
My dog passed away about 2 years ago. I would probably like to have a ring or something made from his ashes. I found an advertisment for a stuffed animal with a little velvet heart with your pets ashes sewn into it. I thought that was kinda neat too. Right now he is just in a plain ceramic urn in my bedroom. I think (if it is not a scam) that it is a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/16 "2002-08-24T14:36:25Z")
I want my ashes compressed into diamonds that will power a giant “laser” on the moon (or as I call it, my “death star”). Unless you pay me ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS! [Snopes](http://www.snopes2.com/science/diamonds.htm) wrote an article on this just yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/17 "2002-08-25T04:49:02Z")
My father is insisting that when he dies, he wants to be stuffed and set on the mantleplace… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-your-cremated-ashes-into-a-diamond/125146/18 "2002-08-25T17:47:40Z")
“So, when did you lose your husband?” “Oh, I didn’t lose him. He’s right here! (patting a necklace)”