Memorial diamond

Memorial diamonds are artificial diamonds that are promoted as including a certain amount of carbon from human hair or cremated remains. How much carbon is extracted from ashes and is actually used varies by service provider.

Typically, these are diamonds created in a laboratory, often referred to as "synthetic diamonds", "cultured diamonds", or "laboratory-grown diamonds". Some memorial diamonds are graded by gemological laboratories, such as Gemological Institute of America (US) or Birmingham Assay Office (United Kingdom).[1]

Manufacturing methods may differ amongst service providers. Switzerland based Algordanza claims to use only the carbon derived from the ashes or hair supplied to them as they have developed the technique of carbon extraction to a higher level of purity. [2]. Furthermore, they have conducted an audit of their own process through a legal notary [3] to effectively check that they are doing as promised. In particular, the manufacturing method of Algordanza has been covered in an article by National Geographic [4]

History

The first lab-made diamonds can be dated back to the 1950s,[5] while memorial diamonds started to appear in the market in the early 2000s. More than one company has claimed to be the first to provide memorial diamonds, and both Heart In Diamond[6] and LifeGem[7] have claimed to have a patent covering the growing of a "personalized gem diamond".

Production process

Memorial diamonds are produced using hair or ashes, with other carbon ("lab carbon") added.[8]

In case of hair, it is subjected to heat treatment to extract carbon. Some laboratories also analyze the content of hair. A hair analysis report then serves as a client assurance. The process of unique identification of a diamond and a person based on the hair composition is described in the diamond patent RU2282584 [9]

Carbon can be obtained from cremated human or animal remains in a particulate or gaseous form. The carbon is then filtered using a conventional filtering technique. The carbon and other elements are then purified and graphitized, for example by a halogen purification technique.[10]

The diamonds are then produced using the carbon extracted using conventional diamond synthesis techniques. As of 2009, only high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) processes using belt and cubic presses were used for the production of memorial diamonds. The memorial diamond process takes anywhere from 7-11 months depending on the size and color desired. Algordanza claims not add any materials that are not derived from the given ashes or hair, resulting in diamonds with a natural bluish color. The bluish color is caused by the trace amounts of boron present in the ashes or hair.[11]


Companies


Several companies offer memorial diamonds, including (in alphabetical order):

  • Algordanza, a company based in Switzerland[12]
  • Algordanza Limited, a company based in Hong Kong[13]
  • Eterneva, a company based in Austin, Texas[14]
  • EverDear, a California-based company in the United States[15]
  • Heart In Diamond, a company based in UK [16]
  • Instituto de Monocristales[17] (amber, yellow, green, blue, colorless)
  • LifeGem, a company based in Chicago, Illinois[18]
  • LONITÉ, a memorial diamond company based in Switzerland near Zürich[19]
  • Memory Diamonds, a company based in Mountain Home, Idaho [20]
  • Phoenix Diamonds, a company based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, United Kingdom[21]

References
  1. LONITÉ. "Diamond | Memorial Diamonds from Ashes & Hair - LONITÉ". www.lonite.com. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  2. "THE ALGORDANZA LAB". algordanza.com.hk.
  3. "The Definitive Guide to Memorial Diamonds". algordanza.com.hk.
  4. "From diamonds to rockets, mourning the dead has gotten high-tech". nationalgeographic.com.
  5. "Near-Colorless HPHT Synthetic Diamonds from AOTC Group". gia.edu.
  6. "Personalised grown gem diamond". russianpatents.com.
  7. "Patent US20040031434 - Method of making synthetic gems comprising elements recovered from remains ..." Google Patents. Google.
  8. "Memorial Diamonds out of Cremains - anyone do this? Need Info". pricescope.com.
  9. "ПЕРСОНИФИЦИРОВАННЫЙ ВЫРАЩЕННЫЙ ЮВЕЛИРНЫЙ АЛМАЗ И СПОСОБ ЕГО ПОЛУЧЕНИЯ" [Personalised diamond creation process]. ntpo.com (in Russian).
  10. "METHOD FOR MAKING SYNTHETIC GEMS COMPRISING ELEMENTS RECOVERED FROM COMPLETE OR PARTIAL HUMAN OR ANIMAL REMAINS AND THE PRODUCT THEREOF - INTERNAT RES & RECOVERY CORP". freepatentsonline.com.
  11. Limited, Algordanza. "Memorial Diamond Guide — Algordanza Hong Kong". www.algordanza.com.hk. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  12. Algordanza website
  13. Algordanza website
  14. Eterneva website
  15. "Ever Dear". website
  16. Heart In Diamond website
  17. Irisgem website
  18. LifeGem website
  19. Lonité website
  20. website
  21. Phoenix Diamonds website
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