By Associated Press, 08/22/02

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. -- For a few thousand dollars, you can sparkle forever.

A company called LifeGem has begun taking orders to create diamonds made from carbon captured during cremations. The human -- or animal -- remains can be mounted and made into jewelry.

Greg Herro, chief executive of the LifeGem, acknowledges that some will consider it a "pretty wacky idea."

But Jack French, a Joliet man who suffers from emphysema, said he would like his remains fashioned into diamonds so his wife and five children have something besides his few personal possessions.

"This will be something that is beautiful, has value and comes right from me," French said.

Funeral homes, including four in the Chicago area, have signed up to offer the memorial diamonds, which will start at about $4,000 for a quarter-carat.

"This is sorely needed for families who choose cremation," said Doug Ahlgrim, director of Ahlgrim & Sons Funeral Services. "An urn is beautiful in its own right, but you certainly can't take it wherever you go."

The process begins when technicians collect the carbon created when a body is cremated and have it turned into graphite. The graphite is then sent to a lab in Germany that creates the stones by simulating the intense pressure and temperature needed to make diamonds.