Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend...

But square-cut or pear-shaped,
These rocks don't loose their shape.
Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

 Diamonds!  Diamonds!
I don't mean rhinestones!
But diamonds are a girl's best friend.

~Marilyn Monroe-Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend~

Heather loved diamonds. She loved any real gemstone like ruby, emerald, or sapphire, but especially diamonds. She wanted at least a 1 carat engagement ring. The one she really loved was 3 carats with the center diamond being a 2 carat, marquis cut stone. She loved to go jewelry looking to see the biggest diamonds she could find in the store. For birthdays beginning with her 14th birthday we began giving her "real" jewelry. The 1st ring I ever bought her was a ruby flower. The rubies were some of the best, clearest rubies I had ever seen. Special events like graduation included jewelry as well. I was building her collection.

Several years ago when Grandma Coombe died Heather stated that when I was cremated she was going to turn me into a pair of diamond earrings and wear me forever. She obviously had been looking online and found a place that created diamonds out of cremation ashes. I believe at the time she was looking the place was in Russia and the diamonds were very, very costly. But I am sure that Heather would have made me into diamond earrings someday.

From time to time I go out and look at different cremation jewelry. I have my favorite sites that I find very trustworthy and look at anything new that comes along. Now after 20 months the thumbprint necklaces are available online for a much lower price. Everything comes to the web sooner or later. I was looking the other day and came across a site that had man made diamonds from ashes. I began looking at sites that make cremation diamonds. 

Ashes are carbon and carbon makes diamonds. This process was discovered and perfected in Russia. In April 2008 they expanded to the US and settled in Pennsylvania. Man made diamonds have been created for many years in the US, but not from ashes. Anything other than a white or clear diamond is a man made diamond. The new popular black, chocolate and champagne diamonds are all created by man. Using either hair or ashes, white, blue, red, green, yellow and orange diamonds can be created. There are 3 different shapes: brilliant-round, princess cut-square and radiant-rectangle. The ashes created diamond contains the essence of life as well as your most precious memories — thus making it the most unique, sentimental and cherished heirloom you’ll ever own

Man created diamonds are quite simply, real diamonds that have been produced in a lab rather than those that occur naturally and are mined out of the ground – there is no other difference in the chemical makeup. Both natural and man made diamonds are made of the same material – nearly pure carbon, and the crystalline structure is very similar with differences only detectable using specialized instruments. In nature, diamonds are formed up to 200 kilometers below the earths surface.  They are created in conditions of intense heat and pressure and slowly, over thousands of years, they are carried to the surface by volcanic activity.

I have been struggling between colors of the "Heather" diamond I want to create. I was torn between red and blue. My first thought was red. Heather loved her Grandma Coombe's red nails and loved to polish them. Red has always defined who she was; minnie mouse, red car, Target, clothes, lip stick, nails and even the dress she bought for her last Christmas party. Then I liked the blue because it reminds me of Heather's eyes, her ball gown, her love of the ocean, her calm personality, the soft, loving side of her and blue shows the princess that she was.

So today I have begun the process to have a stone created. They mailed out the ashes container to me. Once they get the ashes they will begin my diamond. This process takes 70-75 days to complete once they get the ashes. Then they will place in it the setting I have chosen.  I will receive emails updating me with every step that my diamond is making. I figure that I will be receiving my new RING in April. How amazing is that??

The definition of the RED diamond: infuses deep pomegranate with a chameleon effect that change depending on the surrounding light conditions.  They are as personal, individual and unique as the lives they mirror.

I am proud to announce that I have chosen the Brilliant Red, 3/4 carat diamond to be made with Heather's ashes. This will be truly amazing. I am excited and thrilled with the coming of my new diamond. It will be graded and certified once it is cut. I will keep you updated as to how it is going. The pictures are from the website. The ring will be white gold not yellow gold. The stone will be round and not square. The video is a look at the process they use to make a diamond.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2eBajpWdfw