Diamonds are Forever

Algordanza diamonds: a new way to remember a cremated loved one.
(Credit: Wikipedia)

“Every diamond from each person is slightly different. It’s always unique,” explains the Ronaldo Willy, the founder of Swiss company Algordanza. Thanks to Willy, family members can now carry more than a memory of a loved one with them – they can carry Grandma herself.

In memoriam never looked so dazzling. And with over 900 “remembrance” diamonds created annually, Algordanza considers itself to be a stand-out player in today’s flurry of end of life options. In 2013 alone, we’ve learned that we could become part of a coral reef or a planted tree; a man-made cloud or interred in a skyscraper cemetery.

Algordanza is different. It’s just as innovative, but it’s also a firm guardian of the familiar, upholding the memorial tradition of “the family heirloom.”

“It’s a wonderful and ageless alliance to a beloved person.”
–Algordanza on its cremation diamonds

The Algordanza lab.
(Credit: Algordanza.com)

A natural diamond is formed deep within the Earth’s mantle, surfacing after millions of years through a volcanic eruption. Algordanza recreates a similar phenomenon at a toasty 2000 degrees Fahrenheit to make their memorial diamonds, in which a loved one’s cremation ashes are reduced to carbon and compressed for weeks.

“They are solely generated from the cremation ashes handed over – without any additives and admixtures.”
–Algordanza

Most of the diamonds are ordered by family members for their loved ones, Willy says, but on occasion people come to them with their own end of life plans in mind.

An Algordanza diamond.
(Credit: enewschannels.com)

There’s also an element in Algordanza’s cremated stones that you can’t find in any other natural or man-made diamond: they turn out blue. Due to the fact that humans contain varying amounts of boron, there are endless variations in color for each person’s stone. The color brings an appropriate air to the “in memoriam” object by evoking at once serenity, somberness and reflection. That there are unique shades for each diamond only adds to the gem’s role as an extension of the loved one’s individuality – a final, eternal thumbprint.

Related:

• Listen to NPR’s podcast on Algordanza
• Read SevenPonds’s article on Tikker, a watch that measures the span of your life.
• Check out SevenPonds’s article on a elegant garments for a green burial.