Cremation? Burial? How about Diamonds?

travisbecker writes "From Reuters via Yahoo! comes this story. "A Chicago company (Lifegem) says it has developed a process for turning cremated human remains into diamonds that can be worn as jewelry." As for the quality... "If it's done slowly and with a great deal of care, one could have a reasonably high-quality diamond," according to a quote in the story." This should not be confused with our earlier diamond discussion.

Re:how to protect against fraud?

[Anonymous Coward]

From their website FAQ [lifegems.com]:

Is the LifeGem made from remains or ashes? The proprietary LifeGem creation process creates diamonds from the true essence of our loved ones, the carbon. Our families receive the ashes as all others do when choosing cremation, except our families also receive a certified, high-quality LifeGem created diamond to memorialize their loved one's unique and wonderful life.

Read carefully, that says that 1.) the "true essence" of granny is carbon (not that the Lifegem is granny's carbon; 2.) You get the cremation ashes (granny's still in the bottle); AND, 3.) you get a diamond and some certificate to "memorialize" granny.

No fraud if you're up front about it right? So ..., I have an ashtray here that's full, some cigarette butts that "memorialize" granny's smoking habit, and for ONLY $1500 US (2 minimum), I'll send them to you and include an authenticating certificate that it's the "essence" of granny's butt.

Buckyballs

[toxcspdrmn]

The highly reduced (in the chemical, redox sense) organic carbon will be oxidised to CO2 and disappear up the chimney. But remember that bones contain already oxidised inorganic carbon as carbonate (effectively, limestone), which will remain, and which can be reduced by heat and pressure in the absence of oxygen, to pure atomic carbon. Get the conditions right and voila, diamonds. That said, wouldn't it be cooler to be turned into buckyballs?

Re:The question is ...

[ShadowBlasko]

"Anybody know what the impurity is that makes diamonds blue?"

Blue diamonds are not actually blue.

The term "blue diamond" actually refers to a high level of fluorescence of the stone. This is a naturally occuring trait in some diamonds. Most dealers consider higher levels of fluorescence to be a negative trait. However, a high level of blue fluorescence, when viewed in sunlight can make a lower color grade (type k or lower, kinda yellowish looking) appear a brighter white in sunlight or full spectrum lighting. This can make a poor color diamond appear to be better than it really is, increasing its value in the publics eye (no pun intended).

The other "blue" diamond is caused by a high temperature and pressure treatment system which can essentially cook poorer diamonds into looking like good ones. If you use a really poor color stone, you get color impurities after the treatment. This occasionally produces greenish, blue, and sometimes even pink diamonds. These are still considered "modified" diamonds and are usually detected by most decent labs.

Damn, I never thought working in a armory/gothic/jewelry store would come in handy in *this* forum. =)

Re:Clarity

[Anonymous Coward]

F/IF Flawless
VVS-1 thru VVS-2 extremely small inclusions under 10x and are quite expensive
VS-1 thru VS-2 Only small inclusions, and though still expensive in larger sizes can be affordable.
SI-1 and SI-2 Diamonds have inclusions that can easily be seen under 10x, but are not visible to the naked eye. This is the most commonly sold clarity quality today.
I-2 and I-3 Diamonds possess easily seen to the naked eye inclusions that not only effect beauty, but reach a point where durability can be questioned too!!

Quoted from:
http://www.qvctc.commnet.edu/student/AnneDePaula/d iamondqual.htm [commnet.edu]