A precious keepsake out of the ashes

Susan Pigg
living reporter

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but how about a diamond to commemorate her favourite four-legged friend?

The average newlywed may have to wait millions of years for the Earth to create the almost-perfect clear gem on its own.

But DNA2Diamonds promises fancy coloured, lab-grown versions in as few as five days, and created from the hair or ashes of beloved pets, partners or progeny.

"Anybody can have a picture, anybody can have a painting, anybody can have a paw print, but how many people can have a family heirloom to give to their children that says, `Here's a piece of the dog your mom loved?'" says Donna Sullivan of East Hartford, Conn., who is having diamond earrings created from about half a cup of white, black and tan hair from her rat terrier Ariel who died last spring.

The $2,000 yellow-green diamond keepsakes will be couriered to Sullivan's door in about two months. And she can curl up at night knowing there was no invasive mining, bloody turf wars or hard labour involved.

Instead, these colourful sparklers – they also come in red and cognac and can reach a maximum size of 2 carats – are created in a high pressure-high temperature incubator where pressure and temperatures exceeding 2,000 C duplicate conditions below the Earth's crust, where diamonds are created.

Except the process also starts with a tiny diamond "seed" and carbon extracted from the hair or ashes provided by loved ones. Sullivan even has a personal identification number for Ariel's hair, which allows her to follow the creation of her keepsake step-by-step.

DNA2Diamonds, which is relatively new in the U.S. and ships worldwide, has labs in Russia that have been operating for seven years, largely producing cutting diamonds for industrial purposes, says Tom Bischoff, company president (see dna2diamonds.com) Experts are now working to perfect other colours.

While pet owners have proven to be the biggest market, says Bischoff, some people have offered up strands of their own hair, as well as their partner's and their children's, to create diamonds celebrating anniversaries and significant family events.

The most heartbreaking, Bischcoff says, was a recent call from a young man whose baby had died shortly after birth. He was looking to create a diamond ring for his wife as a permanent memento of their son's short life.

"In this economy, everybody wants to make sure that they spend their money wisely," says Sullivan, who notes that coloured mined diamonds are more expensive than clear versions. "When my husband bought me an engagement ring, he spent a good chunk of change to show me how much he cared. I'm doing the same thing to show how much (Ariel's) love and the fun she's brought me has meant. It's a celebration of her life – the good times and the memories."

Sullivan, who shows and breeds rat terriers and still has five of Ariel's offspring at home, says she intends to eventually mark their passing the same way, and pass the diamonds down to her three children.

"I'm not looking to put my husband in an earring," Sullivan says, "but this is just the beginning."