3,045 hearts
Modern Dog Editor Jennifer Nosek turned her beloved dog Esther's ashes into a diamond. (Read the full story here.) Heart in Diamond crafts beautiful, gem-grade diamonds from your dog's ashes or fur so you can carry your pup with you everywhere. Here's how it all works.
1. The first step is choosing the diamond size, cut, and colour you want. There's a whole rainbow of options—orange, yellow, blue, and colourless. The intensity of the final hue (say, a very pale yellow-orange versus a deep orange) depends on your pet's individual carbon composition.
2. Next, you send ⅔ cup of your pet's ashes or a ½ cup of fur. You can also mix the two, or even toss in a lock of your own hair. If you don't have enough, Heart in Diamond can blend in additional generic carbon to complete your diamond—though most people opt to add their own hair, says Operational Manager Anastasia Formenti.
3. The carbon from your sample is compressed and placed into a machine that recreates the natural conditions of a diamond forming deep beneath the Earth's crust (extreme heat of 3,632°F and pressure of 60,000 atmospheres!). Finally, your stone is inspected, polished by a diamond polisher, and graded on the 4C's—colour, clarity, cut, and carat—ensuring it's truly gem grade. Depending on colour, it takes just 75 to 120 days to produce your genuine diamond. Your lab-grown diamond ships with a Certificate of Authenticity and is guaranteed to be physically, chemically, and optically identical to earth-mined diamonds.
Heart in Diamond genuine diamonds start at $750. They offer a 0% interest plan so families can spread the cost over six, 12, or 24 months, plus a bundle deal if you want more than one diamond. For example, order four of the smallest diamonds (all made from the same ashes) and the price drops to $295 apiece. Learn more at heart-in-diamond.com.
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