Showing posts with label man-made diamonds. Show all posts

Tomorrows Traditions finally bite the dust, but Bio-Diamonds spring up?

A BBC '3 Counties Radio' program was brought to my attention on Wednesday 22nd February. This was Jonathon Vernon-Smith's mid-day consumer help feature. Apparently he had been investigating a very serious allegation from a lady in France that Tomorrows Traditions had stopped answering 'phones and e-mails and that she (the lady) wanted a refund of monies paid up-front, but most importantly she wanted her husbands ashes back. Over the days, Jonathon had tracked Lisa Barker (the owner of TT) to both a working e-mail and a private 'phone line. So the poo is most definitely flying from the fanned flames.

Now this is all on top of a bizarre e-mail from one of the 'partners' which stated that they (TT) had supplied Memorial Diamonds with NO carbon from a deceased donor. What also became clear was - their supplier was a Russian company, who are now trying to take over from where 'TT' left off.  Bio-Diamonds

In a very specialist niche industry of only 5 memorial diamond lab's in the world, this kind of situation offers more fuel to the existing worries we have gleaned from enquirers over the years. (These are mentioned in our FAQ section) : Are the diamonds REAL : Do we actually use ashes supplied : How much does it cost?.

With over 150 memorial diamonds made, we don't have one customer unhappy with their diamond we made.
As members of the NAFD and also SAIF, we work to an ethical code of practice. We ONLY make memorial diamonds - from carbon extracted from ashes and hair (and umbilical cords).

Some of our diamonds are less and some are more expensive than our competitors, but - honestly - we are NOT profit driven. John Ruskin once reflected -Value v Prices - http://bit.ly/vZst5d

Later on, we will explain about why you cannot make diamonds from DNA or make them cheaply.

When is a "Pink" diamond - not actually 'Pink'???

All is not what it seems (allegedly) .... along with the many bizarre named synthetic gems (which we have to admit SOME are brilliant), the public are now faced with a new phenomena - coated diamonds - these are natural or lower quality man-made diamonds which have been specially coated in ["diamond" (sic)] the colour required (ie Pink, Blue, Red, etc).
But what is the problem? Natural (mined) Pink and Blue diamonds are much more expensive than their white counterparts - in the region of $100,000 to $250,000 per carat. If the subject diamond is 'coated' in the colour, surely the real value is almost the same as its donor diamond, after-all it is simply a coating? OK it may be a "diamond" coating but not through and through - just on the surface.
Our natural colour diamonds are not interfered with in any way, canary yellow is bright yellow and the 'Blues' range between Aqua and Sapphire.

New blue memorial diamonds and their 'value'

Although Blue Memorial Diamonds are more expensive than the bright Canary yellow we usually make, 'Blues' have become very popular. Canary coloured diamonds are quite rare in nature and can command £7500 to £35,000 per carat. We make them for £5975 per carat. Natural 'blues' on the other hand can cost between £65,000 to above £150,000 per carat. We make 'blues' for £12,000/crt - so although the bereaved may not wish to sell their 'Memorial Diamonds' they are certainly getting a real bargain.
We were asked on Ch4 TV why we didn't simply make 'Blues' (non-memorial) but as we stated then, we only make 'Memorial Diamonds and there is more to life and death than profit, besides, if we charged what the 'Blues' were actually worth, no-one would be able to afford the last remnant of their loved-one.

DNA2Diamonds


We honestly don't mind about 'competition', but when a website infers that its diamonds originate the carbon source from the DNA within a strand of hair - whether it be Michael Jackson or Beethoven - we have to comment.

We are reliably informed by the UK Gov. Pathology Dept; that "DNA dies at temperatures above 300c". As most HPHT diamond lab's use temperatures around 1300c (as we do) I fail to see how any DNA can be found. There may well be carbon remnants, but a strand of hair would not contain sufficient amounts as to say that a diamond is that of anyone. The ocean that MJ stepped in probably contains molucules of his carbon, so you may as well use a bucketfull of seawater.
Therefore, the website which calls itself "DNA2Diamonds" probably do make diamonds but not using anyones DNA for the unique carbon source.
The diamond above was made from a 25gms of hair from a horses tail 'The Reverand'

What are coloured diamonds worth?

Bizarre as it may seem, RED diamonds seem to be exceedingly valuable - yet they may be confused with Rubies, Garnet and fake gems.

Our Blues at £10,950 seem good value???? and considering our diamonds are actually made of our a loved-one, partner or pet- very good value in deed.

This is an extraction from the website :- Color Diamond Encyclopedia



Two very recent examples of memorial diamonds set in new rings, both of which were once original partners rings

Can we make diamonds from DNA?

We have been asked "Can we make a diamond from DNA extracted from hair".

The short and blunt answer is "NO". As far as our chemists are concerned  "DNA is destroyed at 600 degrees centigrade" and I personally know for sure that DNA prep' equipment is regularly cleaned with both bleach and gas flames to remove all traces.    
It is certainly possible to make a diamond from hair, but to make a diamond from one or two strands of hair (the carbon residue that is) would result in a diamond containing almost minute proportions of the hair as to be indistinct from any other carbon source - even a pencil lead.

If any scientist or DNA expert can tell us otherwise, we would be interested to hear from you.