LifeGem is a company offering to synthesize diamonds from the carbonized remains of people or pets. According to Dean VandenBiesen, speaking on the Stan and Terry show May 7, 2007, the company recently became able to create a diamond from a lock of hair. The company was founded in 2001 by Greg Herro, Mike Herro, Rusty VandenBiesen, and Dean VandenBiesen, and was first based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. It is now headquartered in Chicago and a second office, under the name LifeGem UK, was recently opened in Hove, England.

The gems

These synthetic diamonds—precisely duplicate natural diamonds in both optical and physical properties—are touted as “memorial diamonds” and range in price from USD $2,500 for 0.20–0.29 carat (40 to 59 mg) stones to $14,000 for stones weighing 0.90–0.99 carats (180–199 mg). The company can extract enough purified carbon from one human body to synthesize up to 50 gems weighing one carat (0.2 g) each. As little as 227 g of remains are needed to make one diamond. Diamonds made from the cremains of pets are priced the same as those made from human remains, but the size of the animal may be a limiting factor. As of March 2005, LifeGem says it has served 1,000 families since the company’s founding.

The process

The carbon from the remains is converted to graphite after purification, from which point it is placed in a diamond synthesis press. The diamonds are made via the thermal gradient method using alloys as a flux at pressures of 5.0–6.0 GPa and temperatures of 1,600–2,000 °C. The entire process, from cremation to finished stone, takes up to six months for fancy yellow LifeGem diamonds and up to nine months for fancy blue LifeGem diamonds.

Due to boron impurities present in the carbon, most LifeGem synthetic diamonds produced up to 2003 were Type IIb and were a light to medium blue in colour. Iron flux inclusions within the stones also rendered them magnetic. The synthesis process has since been modified: Current production consists of strong yellow to golden yellow and Type IIb blue diamonds.

Three standard diamond cuts are offered to customers: Round brilliant, radiant, and princess (the latter two cuts are rectangular and square in outline, respectively). The company will also take requests for custom cuts. The finished stones are laser inscribed with an identifier (and a tribute for an extra fee), graded by gemologists, and are given a signed certificate of authenticity which contains a LifeGem ID#.

References

• Gallegos, D., Wolfe, R. (2005). Sparkling in memory. DenverPost.com. Retrieved 12 April, 2005 from http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~33~2771085,00.html.
• Laurs, B. M., Overton, T. W. (2003). LifeGem synthetic diamonds. Gems & Gemology, Vol. 39 No. 1., p. 62. Gemological Institute of America.
• Novotny, M. (2005). The ultimate family jewel. MSNBC News: Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Retrieved 12 April, 2005 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4751684.
• Jones, N. (2006). Blunt Ashes. Hip-Hop is Dead.

External links

• LifeGem website

References

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