"Anyone can sparkle in the afterlife, for a price"

This is a weird story from the Chicago Tribune:

A company based in suburban Elk Grove Village has accepted its first deposit for manufactured diamonds made from carbon captured during the cremation process so that loved ones--family members or even pets--could be mounted into a ring, pendant or other jewelry.

A small number of U.S. funeral homes, including four in the Chicago area, have signed up to offer memorial diamonds produced by Life Gem. The cost will depend on the size of the gem, starting at $4,000 for a quarter-carat.

...Life Gem says the diamonds will take about eight weeks to produce. The company is selling blue diamonds and plans to offer other colors. A .25-carat gem is $4,000 (the company requires a minimum order of two stones), and a 1-carat gem is $22,000. Life Gem said it will make only as many stones as are ordered. The company applied for a U.S. patent on the process in March.

The notion of having a constant reminder of her husband that dangles from her neck comforts Jacki French of Joliet. She said she cringed when her husband, Jack, announced that he'd like his ashes scattered in the woods where he often played as a boy.

..."There is a strong human need to have something tangible because memories fade and float away," said Kyle Nash, a grief counselor for physicians at the University of Chicago.

Interesting, I suppose.