Comments on: Diamonds Are For Quite A Long Time

By: Clifford

Clifford — Sun, 14 May 2006 00:50:21 +0000

Blue…I’m hoping for blue.

-cvj

By: Samantha

Samantha — Sat, 13 May 2006 23:28:52 +0000

Just an update: today’s LA Times reports that John Reznikoff, who has the world’s largest and most valuable collection of celebrity hair [you can't make this stuff up], has donated a strand of Beethoven’s hair to LifeGem to publize the fact that they can now make diamonds from a strand of hair. The diamond will be on show in a worldwide tour of museums and opera houses.

While we can all now breathe a sigh of relief that you no longer need a body for this process, I can’t help wondering whether Beethoven will make a blue or a yellow diamond.

By: Don S

Don S — Tue, 09 May 2006 18:20:18 +0000

Hmm – I think I’d like to be applied in chips to a masonry blade so I can help cut ceramic tile for floors and showers. What, too ambitious?

By: spyder

spyder — Mon, 08 May 2006 20:29:29 +0000

aye citrine, it is: Carborundum is a trademark for silicon carbide, a leading commercial grinding substance.. It works wonders on etching and colograph plates for printmaking, as well as cleaning lithoblocks. Not the best stuff to let out in the atmosphere though–”always wear a mask when using.”

By: Brunsli

Brunsli — Mon, 08 May 2006 03:33:28 +0000

I couldn’t find any patents for their “proprietary” technology, at least not assigned to LifeGem. Maybe it’s kept as a trade secret. I can only wonder why DeBeer hasn’t taken it over yet.

I agree with Pacian. There are lots of ways to separate grieving poeple from their money, so we shouldn’t judge them differently. At least these folks let you order in advance and get 20% off.

But, still, I find it gross. I prefer blood diamonds, smuggled out of central African countries in exchange for black market arms to fund civil wars. Relax, I’m kidding.

By: citrine

citrine — Mon, 08 May 2006 02:27:39 +0000

Is carborandum abrasive?

By: serial catowner

serial catowner — Sun, 07 May 2006 22:09:49 +0000

Right, have your mother-in-law made into a carborundum file- as she was in life.

By: spyder

spyder — Sun, 07 May 2006 19:25:19 +0000

or can I have one made out of charcoal as well? Or even can i be made into charcoal upon which a special sacred rack of ribs can be roasted?

I can see all sorts of future possibilities. Add some silica and become a special abrasive carborundum compound that one can form into a rasp to clear up a loved one’s corns and calluses–hehehe. Or maybe have those precious gems stuck in expensive grills for rappers and hip/hop artists and wannabees. Watchmakers could have a field day with them too.

By: McB

McB — Sun, 07 May 2006 18:04:42 +0000

Their price chart ranges from $3500 to $20,000 dollars. I agree with Pacian that it isn’t really that much stranger than people stuffing your corpse in a $6,000 box that gets buried. At least you can use the diamond to freak people out; we’re all rather desensitized to that whole coffin thing.

Also note the awesome “two or more” discount for star-crossed lovers/mass suicides.

Bleh. I’m getting cremated. Although I do find those bone rings cool.

By: IrrationalPoint

IrrationalPoint — Sun, 07 May 2006 13:48:56 +0000

What concerns me is not the conversion of the corpse into a diamond per se, but I do kinda worry about people who have that much money and can’t think of a better way of using it. I mean, get a life!

–IP

By: citrine

citrine — Sun, 07 May 2006 13:28:49 +0000

I like to remember loved ones in their flesh and blood human form – their presence and actions, the wisdom and thoughts they shared with me. Somehow that imagery doesn’t translate into cold, hard diamonds.

By: Pacian

Pacian — Sun, 07 May 2006 11:17:24 +0000

This is old news for me, I have to say. I remember seeing a news items on this ages ago. It's kind of similar to this. To be honest I don't think turning a corpse into diamonds and wearing them is inherently any stranger than burying it in a hole and putting a stone on top of it.

By: Bob Munck

Bob Munck — Sun, 07 May 2006 03:18:02 +0000

As a real fan of the Space Elevator, I'm leaving instructions that I want to be made into carbon nanotubes and used in the section at 100,000 km. Then, if it breaks or wears out, I'm off for Jupiter!

By: Spatulated

Spatulated — Sun, 07 May 2006 01:50:02 +0000

Awesome, I hope I become a vanity piece to show of to people! I wonder what shade I would come out as….

By: joseph

joseph — Sun, 07 May 2006 01:49:40 +0000

First of all, what quality assurance is there? I understand that it’s unthinkable, but how does someone know this company has legitimately converted their loved one into a diamond?

Can you imagine people inserting into their wills “And I would like Honey to make me into a diamond to show her friends”?

One last remark: if you refresh the page, different comments come up on the right-hand side. What’s creepy is this cult-like remark:

“We want to thank you for giving us this gift just before the one year anniversary of Hannah’s birthday into Heaven.”

I don’t think any service should make people really that happy about death.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Sun, 07 May 2006 01:48:02 +0000

Perhaps some folks have the strange desire to be like the celebrated LUCY – the crystallized white dwarf in the constellation Centaurus.

By: Samantha

Samantha — Sun, 07 May 2006 01:24:58 +0000

I would have thought this was an April Fool’s, except that it isn’t.

So… are all colours possible – or only blue and yellowish? Why would that be? Residual copper? Iron?

By: Philip

Philip — Sat, 06 May 2006 22:58:19 +0000

Please. No doubt this sort of thing will cost you lots of money. Don’t waste it, but give it to a charity or something.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 06 May 2006 22:42:58 +0000

Those images on the webpage of cut diamonds….Did they obtain the permission of the families of those people to display their remains for all to see?

Can they do pets?

Say I grill a really good steak, so good that it is life changing. Are they limited to human remains, or can I have one made out of charcoal as well?

By: Zeno

Zeno — Sat, 06 May 2006 22:36:56 +0000

Creepy, isn’t it? I had already heard about this and … no thanks. Scatter me wherever you like, but don’t dangle me around your neck. Please!