Algordanza, a Swiss company, has taken a fascinating and unexpected approach to memorializing our loved ones who have passed; They will compress and super-heat your loved one’s cremated ashes and turn them into a man-made diamond that can be worn and cherished.

It all begins with a chemical process that extracts the carbon from the departed’s ashes. This carbon is then heated to convert it into graphite. That graphite is then heated to as many as 2,700 degrees Fehrenheit and subjected to forces as high as 870,000 pounds per square inch. The color of the finished diamond, which can range from white to dark blue, depends on the boron content of the ashes of the deceased. The prices begin at 4,259 Swiss Francs ($4,474 USD) for a small diamond with no additional service.

More info: algordanza.com | Facebook (h/t: ecouterre)

The human body is 18% carbon. 2% of this carbon remains after cremation, and it is this carbon that Algordanza uses to make their diamonds

These last two photos are from a man who took his grandmother on a trip through the U.S. after her cremated remains were turned into a diamond ring