I recently stumbled across a company that will turn the cremated remains of your loved ones into diamonds. It also seems they can do the same thing from hair as well, which opens some other interesting possibilities. They can even do the process with your pets.

Disclaimer… the ring in the picture above is my wife’s wedding and engagement rings, neither of which were made by me (I wasn’t making jewelry yet at that point in my life). The diamond is not one of the man made ones discussed in this article either. I did not chose to use a picture of one of the diamonds mentioned in this article because, I do not own the copyright to those images.

While some people might think wearing the remains of uncle Fred around their neck is a bit creepy (and yes I did pick that name solely because it rhymed with dead), I have run across many people that carry ashes of deceased loved ones around in a vile, normally worn around the neck. I personally have no problem with this as I can see how it might give a feeling of connection to the departed, but I have run into people who range from a little, to really creeped out by it. The ability to do the same thing with something that looks more like traditional jewelry would let you know the connection to whoever had passed on without anyone else knowing unless you chose to tell them; which could help out in environments where you are concerned with others being creeped out by it, but still wanting to feel that connection.

The ability of the company (the one I came across was LifeGem though I am sure there are others) to make colored and colorless diamonds from hair clippings (the company claims to be able to make a diamond with as little hair as is cut off during a standard male haircut) opens up a lot of possibilities for non memorial gems and jewelry as well. I can see where it would be kind of cool to have a diamond for an engagement ring made out of the hair of your betrothed, and having color options as well would let you personalize the stone even more.

I think the whole thing opens up some interesting (if expensive) opportunities to either express yourself or feel a tie to the past. How do you feel about it? Is it too weird for you, or a neat idea? Of course if there ever is a zombie apocalypse, wearing Uncle Fred on your finger means there’s one less zombie to worry about right? 😉