In recent years, manmade diamonds have completely revolutionised the diamond industry. Unlike blood diamonds and conflict diamonds, man made diamonds are ethical and eco-friendly. They are also relatively easy and comparatively affordable to produce.
Heart in Diamond have taken the man-made diamond concept further to incredible success; creating diamonds from the ashes of both people and pets, creating unique memorials that people simply can’t get enough of. As you will see here, memorial diamonds are just as beautiful as naturally formed diamonds, but with a wonderful and poignant meaning to them. You can choose to have these diamonds created from hair, ashes, or a combination of the two, and keep a piece of your loved one by your side always.
How Are Cremation Diamonds Made?
Many people are curious about the cremation diamond manufacturing process, but it’s surprisingly straightforward to explain.
Customers choose the cut, colour and carat size of the diamond they want, and then send the relevant quantity of hair or ashes to Heart in Diamond. You will need to send 3 ½ to 4 ounces of ashes to produce enough carbon to create a diamond. This is the stage of the process that makes people feel most apprehensive, but this cremation diamond manufacturer takes care to treat the ashes they receive with care and respect.
Once received, the ashes will be chemically analysed and then cleaned to remove any chemical from the sample. This is because diamonds can only be created from ashes that are 99% carbon. The ashes are then placed into a High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) machine. This machine mimics the process that diamonds go through when they are formed naturally in the earth’s crust, placing them under pressure up to 60,000 atmospheres and an extreme temperature of 3,632 degrees Fahrenheit, but in a much more rapid timeframe. The whole process can be achieved in just a couple of weeks, turning ashes to diamonds as part of the grieving process, and proving big business for companies such as Heart in Diamond.
A Business Model Designed for Success
As the old saying goes, only two things in life are guaranteed: death and taxes. With an average of 2.4 million funerals taking place each year in the USA alone, the American funeral industry is estimated to be worth around $20 billion. Population increases means this figure continues to rise, with an annual growth of approximately 4.5%. There’s no denying that death is big business. By focusing their business model on those individuals who are grieving and looking for a way to memorialise their loved ones, Heart in Diamond are able to guarantee a steady stream of customers. These customers then act as advocates for the business, introducing the concept of memorial diamonds within their own social circles and supporting the growth of the company. This word of mouth style business model has proven remarkably successful, with increasing numbers of referrals from existing customer recommendation.
One key factor in the popularity of memorial diamonds is the increasing costs of traditional alternatives: Whether you choose a burial space or to have your ashes stored in a mausoleum, the fact is that securing space to store your remains is becoming more and more expensive, thanks to the rising prices of land and difficulty many cemeteries are having in securing additional grounds. The average cost of a burial plot in New York, for example, is between $20,000 and $28,000 : this figure was a much more modest $12,000 just four years ago.
42% of Americans now choose to be cremated rather than buried, leaving their loved ones wondering what they should do with their ashes. This makes memorial diamonds an increasingly affordable and appealing alternative: why pay expensive fees and annual maintenance costs at a cemetery or mausoleum when you could turn your loved one’s ashes into something beautiful and keep them close to your heart instead?
Talking about death can be a tricky subject, but Heart in Diamond handle the subject sensitively and with compassion. This is a niche market, and one that certainly isn’t for everyone, but Heart in Diamond have more than proven the funeral industry can be evolved into new directions that are both financially and emotionally lucrative. As people increasingly look for alternative burial trends and rituals in death, the popularity of memorial diamond manufacturers such as Heart in Diamond will only increase.
