Friday, 24th February 2006 (4224 views)

A New York man has had his late wife's cremated remains transformed into a diamond, which he proudly wears on a gold ring.

Bob Valentino, Sr. sent a portion of his deceased wife Patti's ashes to a company that turned them into a .66 carat diamond, haaretz.com reports.

Created diamonds company LifeGem, based near Chicago, uses carbon capture technology to extract carbon from ashes. This is then heated to ultra high temperatures and converted to graphite, which is placed in a diamond press that applies heat and pressure.

Mr Valentino was pleased with the result. "I opened the mailbox one morning and it was there," he said.

"I was thrilled. It was almost as if Patti had come home. I immediately put the ring on my finger and then I got in my car and started driving from place to place to show it to everyone. People couldn't believe it."

LifeGem was started by Rusty and Dean VandenBiesen in 2002. Rusty's chemical research led him to realise that the carbon in the human body is the same as that from which diamonds are made.

The company now employs around 20 people and sells the created diamonds for between $2,700 and $20,000.

 

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