From dust to diamonds

Coffins, mummies and urns are out, diamonds are in. Thanks to a peculiar chemical transformation that turns human ashes into sparkling diamonds. For a fee, a company in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubuenden, Algordenza, offers a service to make "human diamonds". Some would surely shudder at the idea, but there are people who find such as a "brilliant" invention for they could now attain eternity when they die. According to Algordenza co-founder, Rinaldo Willy, it would only take about 500 grams, or one pound, of ashes to make a diamond, and the human body leaves behind, on average, two to three kilograms of ashes. About 85% of the human ashes are made up of potassium and calcium, which are then separated from the carbon. The said carbon will be subjected to extreme heat, reaching as high as 1,700°C – a process which compresses it into graphite. After which, more pressure and heat are applied to the graphite to turn it into the hardest allotrope of carbon. The crude carbon is now ready for cutting and polishing. The entire process takes about six to eight weeks to complete, hardly a fraction of the time it takes for the formation of natural diamonds that take thousands of years, and costs between Swf4,500 and Swf17,000 (between US$4,400 and US$16,700), depending on the weight of the resulting stone.