What Is... The Lifegem? Youre not gonna believe this...

[iGuest 3]

You know what else I just thought about? Yeah the prices are super ridiculous, but you're going to pay for remains either way. I work at a 24 hour emergency animal clinic and when we send off for remains, it costs people minimum a few hundred bucks. The urn, special engravings, holding the body, this, that, etc. Etc. It's still a business people, they're just trying to give us something we would really have strong feelings about. You all know this is true because everyone has such a set way of looking at this. "It's so wrong," or, "Wow, super cool!" Just because it's not really your thing, you don't have to log onto some website on the internet and state your set opinion on this specific topic because it's so not your thing... Just chill people! It's allllll good

[iGuest 3]

not to be contrary....What Is... The Lifegem?

I, personally, think it is a beautiful idea. It is not a matter of applying a 'price' or 'monetary value' to someone's life, it is about being able to create a beautiful, lasting tribute to someone who was loved, and is missed. Why do people wear cruifixes? Not because they are ghoulish and like to commemorate torture...It is out of respect, love and a tribute to the sacrifice made. I feel the same about this concept, it would be comforting, to me, to be able to have a little 'bit' of my loved one with me...Minus Urn. I don't know that I would go about advertising that I was' wearing a dead relative' as someone posted, that seems to be inflamatory and phrased to offend. I'm not saying I'm going to contact them as soon as the next loved one has passed, but I think a fair amount of you people posting are being unnecessarily crude and offensive.

[iGuest 3]

LifeGemsWhat Is... The Lifegem?

I heard about this process a few years ago and thought it would nice to leave my daughters something after my death.  I talked with them about it; one was horrified and the other was planning to wear me on a chain around her neck!  LOL  There is really nothing "wrong" with this idea.  Some people are in favor of cremation and some are not.  It is a personal preference.  The difference between having a loved one's ashes sitting on the mantlepiece to be knocked over by the cat and then vacuumed up and hopefully put back in the urn (along with the dust and other debris from the floor) and having the remains fired and compressed into a diamond for a loved one to wear around their neck or on their finger doesn't seem to be too great.  I would prefer the diamond. 

-reply by Parker

[bigtimedrama 0]

I think its rather sentimental. It's as if the person who went to the other side is still with you... When you start to long for that person, at least you can hold on to that piece of jewelry and feel yor loved one still with you. It wont be scary because you love the person, right?

[bigtimedrama 0]

will my mycents add up if i post here?

[thejode 0]

That is pretty neat... Ah, what am I saying? It's pretty gross. To me, I want to remember my loved ones via a grave. I'd rather not wear a ring or something made out of them. To me, that's like sporting around someones guts on your shirt. I believe they compact the ashes together so tightly that it forms diamonds. They have to use some kind of very large crusher to squeeze it together with such strength. Too bad superman doesn't work at their company . He could just squeeze those diamonds together.

[armynavy123 0]

It is jewel that is created from the ashes of a deceased person, to help remember them. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I just read about it today & thought I'd share it.

 

Here is a link to the website: http://lifegem.com/

I cannot possibly described how freaking scary that is. Thanks but when I die I don't want my son to wear me. Also on their website they are going to sell Michael Jackson's hair as a lifegem. That is just worship in my opinion. Anyways I really hope nobody orders anything from here because this is just messing up our culture. I may be overeacting but this is just messed up.

[iGuest 3]

LifeGemWhat Is... The Lifegem?

It's a personal choice. Diamonds are nothing but compressed carbon and that is what the ashes are - carbon compounds.  To create a diamond, carbon compounds are placed under tremendous pressure, and a diamond is created.  Nature does it all the time.

I don't the idea is the least bit morbid.  What's the difference between having the ashes of a loved one, maintained in an urn, where it can tipped over and scattered about, or turned into  permanent piece of beauty?  For those who prefer keeping ashes in an urn, that's great, and for those who would like to take some of those ashes (only a small amount is required to create the diamond), that's fine, too and personal choice.

An explanation need not be given if someone compliments the stone. The meaning of it is personal if chosen.  I used to think keeping ashes in an urn was pretty morbid, but again, it's a personal choice.

 

 

-reply by Viva

[deadmad7 4]

Ohh.. thats creepy... having a dead person around your neck.... i wouldn't buy it. Its like that episode in Family Guy where Brains mother is a desk or something.. its gross.

there must be something wrong with the people who thought of this, probably weren't held by their moms as babies.

i agree! thats some sick people

[iGuest 3]

To everyone who thinks this is "gross",  "weird", "messing up our culture"...

Why do you feel that way?

I'm genuinely curious why putting cremated remains into the form of a diamond is any more disgusting than:

-Displaying an urn full of ashes of your dead loved one-Letting their body putrefy into a mass of rotten tissue in the ground

Someone earlier stated "how can you put a price on--" but isn't that what all funeral companies do regardless of what you do with a loved one's remains? They price the services they perform - how much you have to pay to prepare your loved one's body, for example. Isn't that putting a price on them still? Cremation pricing is determined based on your weight - what do you consider that? Memorial services: you PAY them to talk about the life of the deceased. They are not pricing the life they are remembering - they are pricing the service. Equally, LifeGem is not pricing the life the diamond is meant to represent - they are pricing it's creation.

I certainly don't want to be stuffed in a box and pitched in a dirt hole in the ground to rot... If we're going to be frank, that is all a burial is. I have decided that I would like (some of) my remains made into a diamond when I pass away.

To armynavy: How is it "messing up our culture", exactly? Can you even come up with a good response to that?

LifeGem is a personal choice, but when you get down to it, it's not much different than wearing your dead grandmother's wedding ring - it is still something that belonged to someone who is now deceased.

My parents have both expressed their wishes to be diamonds after their passing. I believe very firmly in honoring those wishes, and will be doing exactly that. It is a one-of-a-kind, unique, and beautiful item - just as they are one-of-a-kind, unique, and beautiful people. I'd like to know how it is sick or morally wrong to honor the wishes of the deceased.

The hair of celebrities is something else. Buying a diamond made from their hair isn't really different than buying the hair itself (or trying to cut off pieces of it), but I was never fanatical enough to want someone's hair lying around my house, personally. (Or to buy a diamond made from that hair, either, if we want to go that far.) One of the diamonds made from Beethoven's hair (by the same man who owns Michael Jackson's burnt hair and who is doing the same thing to it) sold for $200k... I'm not wealthy enough to be that kind of fan.

-reply by Sarah

[iGuest 3]

I read an article about this in Popular Science magazine awhile ago. I personally am choosing to have this done to me when I die. All the people that are saying this is just a way to exploit grieving families are wrong because I am personally paying for this by saving up money for it while I'm still alive.

[iGuest 3]

And I thought I saw it all; but then this comes along.
This is the creepiest thing i have ever seen. Who on earth wants to weat their grandmother, father, lover, you name it, on their finger! I guess it is better than keeping one of those boxes of ashes in you house, but it's just plain wrong! I mean, it sounds like a good idea at first, but what should happen if you lose the gem? thats a lot of money down the toilet right there. And it isnt like you can replace it, so yeah, it isnt a very good idea.

You can go into the ground as worm dirt and be a host to maggots or you can become a diamond. Personally I like the idea. A diamond is forever.
Edited June 20, 2012 by moderator (see edit history)

[johnnydiamond08 0]

I can't imagine the people who actually wear their loved ones like jewelry. I can only assume they are of the highest caliber of character ( sarcasm implied).