Cremation Diamond Fraud: Preying on Your Grief
Introduction to Cremation or Memorial Diamonds:
The Cremation or Memorial Diamond industry began in 2002 when the process of growing diamond crystals in a laboratory environment was perfected. Using a process known as high temperature – high pressure (HPHT) method of crystal growth the conditions that exist deep inside the earth can be duplicated in a laboratory, allowing for the formation of diamond crystals, a crystallized form of pure carbon.
With the advent of this technology, companies begun to form who claimed to take carbon from the cremated ashes of deceased persons (or pets) and use that carbon to create lab grown diamonds.
However, it has always baffled me (Amy Root, Cub’s wife and by education Nurse Practitioner) that these companies could obtain enough carbon at such high temperatures, separate it from ashes and other organic matter of the deceased, to actually incorporate it into a diamond, again using high pressure and temperatures. After all, I’m sure you have all cooked charcoal on a grill and watched it turn into essentially nothing. Well charcoal is completely composed of carbon. The same element that a diamond is made of.
Over the past decade the cremation diamond market has grown to world-wide reach with companies such as LifeGem®, Lonite™, Phoenix Diamonds™, Cremation Solutions™ and Algordanza™ among the leading names; All claiming to create a piece that will “Keep their legacy alive. Turn their ashes into a cremation diamond.” But, is this actually the case or is this just a way to prey on the grieving and make more money on stones that are just lab created and likely created even before the loved ones ashes are even sent in? Cub has been keeping up with leading research so that when clients come in during their grief process, he can appropriately educate them before spending money on these stones. Additionally, I decided to try to further investigate by reaching out to cremation diamond companies to begin with. Unfortunately, none were willing to answer my questions.
Currently, the cremation diamond industry operates with no government oversight or review, and without any type of formal control regarding the claims being made regarding the actual creation of diamonds using carbon obtained from cremation ashes.
Let’s take a look at the science and newest evidence gathered by Robert James FGA, GG
Global Claims Associates Independent Insurance Adjusters and SIU Investigations
Texas Department of Insurance Property and Casualty Adjuster License #1300433
Image courtesy of GIA
What is a diamond?
Diamonds are pure, crystallized carbon. While they may be in crystal form, they contain the same ingredient as graphite or charcoal: Carbon. Now let’s dig a little deeper.
How do diamonds form?
Natural Formation
More than a billion years ago, 100 miles (161 km) or more beneath the earth’s surface, in a cauldron of extreme temperatures and high pressure, carbon atoms bonded tightly together. At temperatures higher than 2100°F (1150°C) and pressures 45,000 times greater than at sea level, crystals formed, resulting in the hardest natural mineral on Earth: diamond.
Diamonds remained hidden deep within the earth for hundreds of millions of years, until volcanic activity violently transported them upwards towards the earth’s surface in magma. Vertical rock formations, called “kimberlite pipes,” are remnants of these ancient volcanoes. Over time, erosion frees some of these rough diamonds from their host rock. Transported by rivers and streams, these diamond crystals end up in river gravel beds and silt often at great distances from their original source. Until the late 1800s, the world’s diamonds were found and collected from these alluvial beds.
Today, most diamonds are found in kimberlite pipes, which are the primary source of mined diamonds.
Lab Formation
There are two main processes used to create laboratory-grown diamonds:
1. High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT)
With this method, laboratory-grown diamonds are produced using high-pressure, high-temperature conditions similar to what natural diamonds experience in the earth. HPHT diamond growth occurs at pressures of 5–6 GPa (roughly equivalent to the pressure exerted by a commercial jet airplane if balanced on the tip of a person’s finger) and at temperatures of 1300–1600°C. This is the process companies claim to use when creating a Cremation or Memorial Diamond.
Lower-quality diamonds, whether natural or laboratory-grown, can also be put through the HPHT process to improve color. In addition to making diamonds more colorless, this process can also be used to change the color of diamonds to pink, blue or yellow. The diamond would then be called a “treated” diamond. This is disclosed in GIA reports.
What is cremation?
Cremation is the process of reducing a dead body to mostly tiny bits of bone resembling ash that involves exposing the body to flame and intense heat followed by pulverization of bone fragments. - Merriam Webster
How hot is a cremation furnace?
Cremation furnaces operate in a temperature range of 1600F to 1800F, to insure a complete cremation of all aspects of the human body. The result is a complete burn out of any element with a burn temperature below 1600°F, including carbon, which burns at a temperature of 1200-1400°F.
Did you catch that?
Yes, cremation furnaces operate at a temperature so high that there is ZERO carbon left from the body. The cremation process destroys all traces of organic, carbon-based matter, leaving no residual carbon with which to create a diamond. Correct - There is no carbon left in the cremation ashes to make a diamond, a fact that renders all cremation diamonds as impossible to create. However, the most disturbing part of this is that these companies are aware of this and actually recommend “partial cremation” to leave carbon behind or adding carbon to the ashes. This is something no cremation company will actually do.
Preying on the grieving…
The following quotes are taken directly from the patents of LifeGem owners, and demonstrates LifeGem’s awareness that there is not enough carbon in cremated ashes to create a diamond. Quotes from the Patent are in bold.
“…. conventional cremation eliminates most of the native carbon,….” LifeGem
LifeGem admits that the cremation process eliminates carbon. They offer two methods to maintain carbon. The first is partial cremation:
“The preferred process for collection begins with the oven operator positioning the body in the oven so that the head and chest area are not positioned directly underneath the main burner.” LifeGem
LifeGem suggests the body not be totally cremated. They state further:
“Positioning the body in this manner assures that carbon will remain in the body’s head area. The carbon can then be gathered by hand, or by using a metal shovel or scoop, or the like.” LifeGem
Further, they blatantly recommend that only certain body parts be cremated:
“Alternatively, one or more body parts may be cremated.” LifeGem
There can be little doubt that LifeGem is aware that the cremation process does not leave enough carbon to create a diamond, otherwise they would not be recommending such drastic measures such as only cremating certain body parts, and/or moving the head from over the furnace and retrieving it afterwards with a shovel.
The other alternative is simple: If there is no carbon, use carbon from outside sources to make the memorial diamond:
…the remains can be cremated conventionally, mixed with additional carbon from another source, and purified as described above. It is contemplated that, using this technique, a gem containing at least some of the original carbon from the cremated remains can be prepared, even if the amount of carbon present in the remains alone is insufficient to make a gemstone of desired size or type.” LifeGem
Based on this, LifeGem, and most likely all cremation diamond companies, fully realize that carbon is lost during the cremation process, and that outside carbon must be added to the ashes before any effort to create a diamond could be successful.
The important issue in the above statement from LifeGem is that they “contemplate” or think there is “at least some of the original carbon” is included in the diamond. They think.
Simply stated: LifeGem cannot guarantee that ANY carbon from the deceased loved one’s body is included in their cremation diamonds.
What is the cost of a Cremation Diamond vs. Lab Grown Diamond?
For this comparison Robert James, GG used an average clarity and color for colorless diamonds. The company offering open-market, lab-created diamonds is Brilliant Earth. These prices are typically higher than pricing you will find with Form To Feeling, so keep that in mind when looking at these margins. Please keep in mind that these are all LAB created diamonds of comparable sizes and qualities, the only difference is a false guarantee of cremation diamonds being composed of a loved one’s ashes.
.30ct Round Colorless Diamond Average VS/G
Brilliant Earth Created Diamond: $445.00
LifeGem Cremation Diamond: $4,499.00
Eterneva Cremation Diamond: $4,499.00
Lonite Cremation Diamond: $3,400.00
.50ct round colorless diamond Average VS/G
Brilliant Earth Created Diamond: $850.00
LifeGem Cremation Diamond: $7,899.00
Heart in Diamond Cremation Diamond: $5,995.00
Phoenix Cremation Diamond: $8,695.00
Lonite Cremation Diamond: $5,300.00
.70ct round colorless diamond Average VS/G
Brilliant Earth Created Diamond: $1,440.00
LifeGem Cremation Diamond: $13,199.00
Eterneva Cremation Diamond: $13,199.00
Lonite Cremation Diamond: $9,100.00
So what’s the cost of grief?
On average, cremation diamonds cost up to TEN TIMES more than the price of an open-sourced, lab-created diamond of the same size, quality, color and cut. These numbers even blew our minds at Form To Feeling. To us, this is truly a predatory marketing strategy with pricing that is unconscionable.
What now?
Well, first and foremost. Please reach out to us to consult about a cremation diamond before you purchase it. We strongly advise not purchasing a cremation or memorial diamond. There are so many other ways to commemorate a loved one that has been lost and we are honored when clients come to us to help with these types of projects. There are even ways we can incorporate ashes into a piece without losing your loved ones ashes at all.
Secondly, the funeral homes that advertise these diamonds and push people in their immediate grief to create these lab grown stones should be held just as responsible as these companies “creating” these stones. The reality is, the funeral homes know more than any of us about the cremation process and therefore, should know it is impossible to source enough carbon from the deceased to actually create a diamond from their ashes.
Integrity: The quality of being honest, trustworthy and upright.
One of the core values at Form To Feeling is integrity. We are saddened by the lack of integrity that has infiltrated the jewelry industry over the years and we have seen dishonest practices time and time again when clients come in and have been deceived. It is heartbreaking for us to deliver this news after the process has already taken place for most of our clients. At Form To Feeling, we strive to build relationships that on trust. We will always treat you with respect, and never take advantage of you. After all, you are the reason we exist and we could not be more thankful for your loyalty.
