Diamonds really are forever
2008-08-29 11:20
Chur - Diamonds really are
forever.
Algordanza, a small company based in the mountainous
southeast of Switzerland, uses the ashes of dead people to make
diamonds as a permanent memento for their nearest and dearest.
And with prices starting at less than €5 000,
the jewels are not solely the preserve of the jetset.
"Some people find it helpful to go to the cemetery and
grieve, and they leave their grief in the cemetery," said
Algordanza Chairperson Veit Brimer.
"There are some people who, for
whatever reason, do not want to have this farewell.
"Astonishingly these are mainly Christian people. They say:
'Why should I say goodbye? I'll see my husband in 15 years in
heaven anyway,'" Brimer said in his office overlooking the town
of Chur and its surrounding steep mountains.
The technology for making artificial diamonds was first
pioneered by General Electric in the 1950s, and mirrors nature
by subjecting carbon to huge pressure and temperature.
'Remembrance'
Algordanza - which means "remembrance" in the local
language Romansch, spoken in some parts of the Swiss canton of
Grisons - is one of a handful of companies offering artificial
diamonds that have sprung up as the technology has improved.
US-based LifeGem and Britain's Phoenix Diamonds, for
example, also offer diamonds made from hair, which contains more
carbon than ashes meaning a gem can be created from the hair of
a living person, or from someone who has been buried rather than
cremated. LifeGem even offers diamonds made from dead pets.
"Some people find it is a great honour and remembrance,"
said Laura Simanton at the Gemological Institute of America
(GIA). "The technology is certainly getting better."
Synthetic diamonds have become so common that GIA now grades
their quality, so buyers can assess what they are getting
compared with a natural diamond.
John Cordova, vice president of California-based engagement
ring store Robbins Bros said synthetic diamonds are "in general
a little less expensive" than natural ones, but it depends on
each individual stone.
'From all walks of life'
GIA engraves the word "synthetic" and its report number on
all artificial diamonds it grades.
Algordanza's Brimer first saw a business opportunity in
"remembrance" diamonds after meeting a Russian chemist, who
explained how gems could be created in a laboratory.
Initially Brimer, who used to work in information
technology, and his partner Rinaldo Willy thought their
clientele would mainly be young, but they have been surprised
that "actually our customers come from all walks of life."
Bobby Thurman - of Nelson Funeral Service in Arkansas,
which offers diamonds to both burial and cremation clients -
decided to have LifeGem make a diamond from combined samples of
his own and his family's hair.
"My family will cherish this diamond for generations, and I
expect other families will want to do the same," Thurman said.
Algordanza does 40% of its business in Japan, its
largest market, where cremation is more common because land is
so scarce.
Mounted in jewellery
Many clients from Europe travel to Chur to accompany the
deceased on their final journey and meet the people who will
turn the ashes into a diamond.
Often the gem is mounted in jewellery, which the bereaved
then wear to maintain close contact with their loved one. But
some customers have different plans.
One widow, Brimer said, carried around her husband's diamond
in her handbag. Others have them mounted on the deceased's table
in the local pub.
Brimer says remembrance diamonds do not appeal to everyone,
and is astonished at Algordanza's success - it does not give
sales figures, but said the first quarter of 2008 - the latest
details publicly available - was its most successful
three-month period yet.
In its first year, 2004, the company sold one diamond. These
days it is creating about 60 a month, which Brimer attributes to
word-of-mouth recommendations and media coverage, as Algordanza
does not advertise.
Each one takes between three weeks and three months to
create, said chemist Nesimi Oner in one of Algordanza's
laboratories.
Because only 2 percent of a corpse's ashes are carbon, which
then has to be purified, the largest size diamond offered by
Algordanza is 1 carat, which costs €13 328.
"The chemistry is easy," Oner said. "The interesting thing
for me is how you can produce larger diamonds."