Deciding to grow a cremation diamond to honor a loved one or pet means they were truly remarkable. This is reserved for the special few that you can't imagine doing life without. It's about celebrating the impact they had on our lives. And it also involves some remarkable chemistry.
It's important to realize that lab-grown diamonds and cremation diamonds are very different – and the processes to make them are, too. Of course, the reasons people choose to grow diamonds from cremains or hair are very different as well.
There is also a lot more you need to think about when it comes to picking a memorial diamond company. Can I trust them with my loved one? Are they doing this process legitimately and transparently? Do they have a good chain of custody protocol for handling remains?
Keep reading to learn more about the cremation diamond process, what to watch out for when it comes to memorial diamonds and how to select a good company, FAQs, and more.
Doing Ashes to Diamonds the Right Way
While Eterneva is now the market leader and most established company for turning ashes into diamonds, we were not the first. We chose to start this company after our founder Adelle lost someone she really loves - her mentor Tracey - and learned that you could do this process. She fell in love with the idea and knew she had to honor Tracy this way, but when she went to research the other memorial diamond companies out there and began the process, she didn’t find any that she felt like she could trust.
She was asking questions like “Where are your labs located?” and “How do you prove that Tracey’s ashes are going into the Diamond?” and was concerned when no one wanted to answer these questions. Their processes felt like a bit of a black box, which was disconcerting to her when contemplating sending her most precious person away.
So that inspired Adelle and her co-founder Garrett to start Eterneva, because they felt this option had to exist and be done in a way that is both personal and transparent; Where families would know exactly where their loved ones are, visit the lab, know what’s happening at each step, and see the memorial diamond process first-hand so there was trust and peace of mind.
Our Ashes to Diamonds Process Explained
Each memorial diamond is custom-made with precision and care, one at a time. Unlike mass-produced lab diamonds from India, ours are individually crafted in high-tech labs in Germany and Texas to ensure top quality and full transparency.
Here is how the memorial diamond process works, high-level:
- Extracting Carbon: We isolate the carbon from the ashes or hair. We’ll film your ashes going in for purification and reveal the carbon coming out for quality assurance.
- A Rough Diamond Emerges: Through a custom, individualized process of heat and pressure in a controlled environment, your loved one's carbon will grow into a rough, raw diamond. We’ll reveal their post-growth transformation.
- Cut, Graded, & Certified by Masters: Your loved one’s memorial diamond is cut by hand, quality inspected at every stage, graded and engraved by our GIA diamond grader. Our team of jewelry designers can also help you select or design the perfect setting (optional).
- An Unforgettable Homecoming: The return of your loved one’s diamond is a special day, so we make sure everyone is carefully and thoughtfully delivered.
Your loved one's carbon is unique, so we carefully tailor the experience to suit it. It begins with extracting ultra-pure carbon from their ashes or hair. Then, using the same forces found in nature—heat, pressure, and time—our scientists carefully tailor the process to grow a real memorial diamond of exceptional quality.
Once formed, our master cutters inspect the raw diamond to ensure we avoid any visible inclusions and then hand-polish it on a diamond wheel to the optimal size, clarity, and brilliance.
Then, our in-house GIA-certified Diamond Grader evaluates it using the Eterneva Diamond Report, ensuring full transparency and verifying it as a genuine diamond. If you’ve chosen a colored diamond, it may go through an additional coloration process before grading.
If you choose to have the diamond set, we'll introduce you to one of our jewelry designers, who can guide you in selecting a piece from our Curated Collection or help custom-design an heirloom piece that tells your loved one’s story.
Every step of our process is documented and shared with you so you can trust in the care and precision we take.
STEP 1: Carbon purification.
When you send in your loved one’s ashes or hair, the first step of the process is to purify them into carbon in the form of graphite. This is the carbon we will use to grow their diamond.
Materials we can use
We can make a new cremation diamond out of any material that contains carbon, so there are quite a lot of special and meaningful options to create your loved one’s diamond from! While a lot of our families are using their loved one’s ashes, we can also extract the carbon from hair or items of personal significance like cards, clothing, pet leashes, or toys, etc. You can even contribute a bit of your hair, so you and your loved one are together in a diamond!
Is there enough carbon in cremated ashes to create a diamond?
Yes, there is! While some elemental carbon is burned off during the cremation process, ashes contain 1-4% carbon after the cremation process, mostly in the form of carbonates. From ½ a cup of ashes (5% of an adult person’s cremated ashes), we can extract more than enough carbon to grow 5-6 diamonds.
We offer free third-party carbon testing upon request, where families can send a sample of their loved one’s ashes to an accredited third-party analytical chemistry lab to provide a report that measures and reports levels of organic and inorganic carbon in their cremation ashes before starting the process.
We also provide video updates of your loved one’s ashes going into the crucible and being sealed pre-purification, and then we open the crucible on video as well to unveil the resulting carbon.
How does our purification process work?
Because cremation diamonds are made of carbon, all other elements must be burned off in the purification process.
We use a two stage process to purify carbon using high heat in a zero oxygen environment. The first step uses a halogen gas to break down carbonates and phosphates. In the second stage, the partially purified carbon is heated above 4,700°F to vaporize the remaining elements leaving only pure carbon in the form of graphite. The result: 99.95% pure carbon, essential for growing high quality genuine diamonds.
This is what the elemental carbon looks like once it has been purified:


STEP 2: Diamond Growth
After Purification, the personal carbon is refined into a super, super fine powder, blended with generic carbon, and compressed into a carbon disc, which is the starter material for your loved one’s diamond.
Will the diamond contain only personal carbon?
No, your loved one’s carbon will comprise 10-15% of the diamond. The reason we don’t use 100% personal carbon is for the sake of quality. While we achieve a very high purity level during purification (99.995%), there are still impurities that exist in personal carbon that can cause inclusions or lead to failed growth.
Memorial diamonds' growth is completely contained within a pressure and heat-insulating growth cell, so no personal carbon can be burned off during the process. Your loved one’s personal carbon is therefore distributed all throughout their diamond, much like ashes in a memorial glass.

Building the Growth Cell
The growth cell is built with layers of heat and pressure insulating materials, which we actually produce in-house to maximize quality control and success rates.
Inside the cell, we place a carbon disc and a diamond seed, which acts as a formation site for the carbon to attach to, much like how a pearl forms around a grain of sand. The diamond seed is made from generic carbon only and will be removed during cutting.
The growth cell also contains a metal alloy, which liquifies under extreme heat, dissolving the carbon disc and reforming the carbon atoms one by one in a crystal structure starting from the seed.
The Art & Science of Growing a Cremation Diamond
Once the growth cell is ready, it is placed into a High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) machine.
HPHT growth creates pressure and temperature conditions similar to those of the Earth's mantle in a controlled environment. This requires the machine and growth cell to generate pressures of 6 to 8 GPa and temperatures between 2,200 to 2,500 °C.
Cremation diamonds are made from carbon, just like coal and pencil lead. The difference lies in the heat, pressure, and molecular bonding pattern of the carbon. That's why our diamond scientists closely monitor each diamond’s growth, fine-tuning pressure and temperature to stay in the ideal zone for single crystal growth. Since every person's carbon is unique, we often need to adjust and tailor our growth recipes to the individual.
The diamond colors that can be grown directly in the machine are colorless, blue, and yellow. We’ll get into that more into how that works in the Coloration section below.
The size of a diamond is not determined by the amount of ashes or carbon, but rather the length of time the diamond is growing in the machine.
The difficulty of quality crystal growth is exponentially greater at larger sizes. At Eterneva, we always prioritize quality over speed, so we intentionally slow our growth cycles down to reduce the risk of inclusions.
All memorial diamonds will have naturally occurring inclusions, with the three most common being:
- Metallic fragments from the metal alloy in the growth cell
- Areas of uncrystallized carbon
- Void or feather
Before going to cutting, we will inspect your loved one’s diamond and map out how we will cut the diamond to reach our target size and clarity while avoiding inclusions.

Quality of Lab-Created Diamonds
Lab-created diamond technology has come leaps and bounds in the last two decades, now capable of growing some of the highest quality jewelry-grade diamonds on the market today, achieving consistently high color and clarity grades.
Eterneva’s Quality Guarantees
We invest significant resources every year in research & development so we can ensure our families' diamonds are the best they can be, and we’re the only cremation diamond company offering quality guarantees.
We guarantee our families a minimum of SI2 clarity (meaning you can’t see visible inclusions), but the majority of our memorial diamonds end up in the VS to VVS clarity range, which is in the top 5-15% of diamonds.
If, for any reason, we don’t meet our guaranteed standards, we will offer to grow a second diamond, with both being sent home to your family.
What is the Difference Between Memorial Diamonds and Generic Lab-Grown Diamonds?
Regular lab-grown diamonds are primarily mass-produced in low-cost geographies, whereas memorial diamonds are individually custom-made to exact specifications.
Regular lab-grown diamonds are primarily mass-produced in India due to the low cost of labor and heavy Indian governmental subsidies. These machines are capable of growing upwards of 100 cremation diamonds in a machine cycle at a time. Once grown, producers will cut the best diamonds they can get and sell them at a commoditized market value.
Memorial diamonds are made to order, with families choosing the exact color and size upfront, and clarity guarantees must be met. Each one is grown individually from custom personal carbon, requiring a tailored process. Unlike mass-produced lab diamonds, ours are crafted one at a time in Germany and Texas, which is why they cost more.
Difference in Diamond Growing Machines & Technologies
Most lab-grown diamonds are created in a Carbon Vapor Deposition (CVD) machine, where up to 100+ diamonds can be grown at once. CVD is particularly well-suited for large-diamond synthesis (above 2 carats).
Can CVD Be Used for Memorial Diamonds?
Yes, Eterneva is the first and only company capable of creating memorial diamonds using CVD technology. This required us to develop a proprietary method of carbon conversion to convert personal carbon graphite to methane gas, which is the necessary input to CVD.
Our CVD machines are far smaller than industry standards, custom-built and fitted for our unique purpose of growing one order at a time from a personal carbon source.
The structure of a CVD diamond looks much different than an HPHT diamond. CVD diamonds grow from a thin square seed plate, stacking carbon atoms in a thin layer after layer, resulting in a cubic block.

HPHT Machine Technologies
There are three types of HPHT machines:
- Bars Press
- Cubic Press
- Toroid Machines
All machine types attain the same high temperature and pressure needed to create a diamond - the difference is how they apply the pressure. HPHT machines are primarily used for one-diamond-at-a-time synthesis.
At our German facility, we use BARS presses, and at our Texas facility, we use Toroid presses, and we find that different machine types are better suited to specialize in different sizes and colors.


STEP 3: Diamond Cutting
Once the raw diamond is finished growing, it is now time to cut the diamond to the proper shape.
Our master cutters will inspect the rough diamond and use mapping technology to ensure the target size, shape, and clarity can be met, free of visible inclusions.

“Cutting” a diamond is a bit of a misnomer since cremation diamonds are actually more shaped by hand on a diamond wheel. Our Master Cutters have 25+ years of experience and are expert artisans in shaping a diamond to avoid inclusions and imperfections and maximizing clarity and brilliance.
Steps to Diamond Cutting:
- Step 1: Inspection
- Step 2: Creating the Table (Top of the Diamond)
- Step 3: Brooding (Cutting)
- Step 4: Polish Facets (Shaping)
- Step 5: Final Polish
What happens to the extra shards of diamond after cutting?
Diamonds aren't cut piece by piece but rather they're shaped on a wheel, much like a piece of wood is sanded down into its final shape.
Choosing a Diamond Cut
There are a variety of different shapes or cuts that you can choose for your loved one’s diamond. Here are the classic shapes we offer:
- Round: This is the most popular shape, with 70% of families choosing a round. The Round Brilliant cut has the most amount of facets, so it is a very sparkly cut.
- Cushion: This shape also has a lot of facets, making it a very sparkly cut. It has a classically square shape with rounded edges.
- Asscher: The asscher cut is also a square shape but features a step cut, where you can see more clearly into the diamond.
- Emerald: This shape is rectangular with a clean step cut for a timeless look
- Radiant: This shape has a blend of step cuts with facets, so it sparkles a bit more than a typical emerald. The radiant can be a square or rectangular shape
- Heart: This is a very special shape for a memorial diamond and contains a nice amount of facets, so it will sparkle. Because of the “V” at the top and the point at the bottom, you will lose some carat weight with this cut, and it will weigh about 75% of the carat weight as compared to one of the cuts above.
Put simply, if you’d like a sparkly diamond, you might opt for:
- Round
- Cushion
- Radiant
For a more timeless cut then:
- Emerald
- Asscher
Other specialty cuts are technically feasible, but may result in carat weight loss. Reach out to us to inquire about the feasibility of select specialty cuts.

STEP 4: Diamond Grading, Engraving & Certification
Each cremation diamond receives a final diamond grading report. That report details the cut, clarity, color, and carat of the diamond according to the GIA diamond grading scale.
Eterneva's Memorial Diamond Grading Report
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is the most well-respected organization for diamond grading, but their reports were not designed with a memorial or personal carbon use case in mind. They report the 4 C’s, but they don’t disclose the personal carbon source(s) used to grow the diamond.
We believe this is of utmost importance because if ever a diamond were to be lost or stolen, we would want to ensure it can be identified as a memorial diamond and traced back to its rightful owner, versus being tied to a standard diamond certificate and resold on a secondary market.
For that reason, we developed an Eterneva Diamond Grading Report to disclose both diamond specs & carbon sources. Every diamond is graded by our certified GIA Diamond Grader.
The Clarity Grade
- I (1,2) – “Included” You can visibly see inclusions with the naked eye
- SI (1,2) – “Slightly Included” There may be inclusions that are visible, but they are very difficult to see with the naked eye and likely need a trained eye to spot
- VS (1,2) – “Very Slightly Included” inclusions need at least 10x magnification to be seen
- VVS (1,2) – “Very Very Slightly Included” Same as above but 20x magnification
- IF – “Internally Flawless” There are zero defects (only about 0.1% or less of diamonds get this grade)
The Cut Grade
Cut is the most important of the 4Cs (cut, clarity, color, and carat) because it has the greatest influence on a diamond's sparkle/brilliance.
The cut grade is based on the proportions and angles of the facets and ratios of the depth to diameter. When diamond cuts are made with the proper proportions, light is returned out of the top of the diamond (referred to as the Table). If the cuts are too shallow, light leaks out of the bottom; if they are too deep, light escapes out of the side.
Diamond Cut Grading Scale
- Poor/Fair: Will appear dull or glassy
- Good: Reflects most light (this is an “ok” grade)
- Very Good: Nearly an ideal cut but slightly off
- Ideal: only about 3% receive this grade; all angles and proportions are within 1 degree of perfect
- Astor Ideal: Less than 1% get this grade, which is considered a “perfect” cut

STEP 5: Diamond Coloring
This is the stage where we transform the color of the cremation diamond to its intended color. Diamonds can be grown within the HPHT machine as colorless (pure carbon), blue (includes added boron), or yellow (includes added nitrogen).
Note that a yellow or blue diamond will appear darker when in rough form versus cut form. We need to cut into the diamond to reveal its true color.
To create other colors, you can go through an additional irradiation coloration process, which will transform a colorless or yellow diamond into colors like:
- Red
- Pink
- Green
- Black
While we can generally aim for a lighter or darker hue of each color, the exact hue of each color is going to be unique to each loved one.
How the Irradiation Diamond Coloration Process Works:
- Controlled radiation (electron bombardment) reacts with trace elements to alter the color structure of diamond
- All diamond colors can be achieved through this process
- The final color is highly dependent on trace element composition
- Pink and Green yield the best results with very low nitrogen content
- Red and Black can start from a darker yellow with higher nitrogen content
Examples of Cut, Colored, and Set Eterneva Diamonds:

The Color Grade
Colorless diamonds and colored diamonds are graded differently.
Colorless diamonds follow the chart below and are graded D-Z along a colorless to light scale:

Colored diamonds are graded along a scale of faint to fancy vivid:


Step 6: Diamond Settings & Jewelry
Deciding how to set your loved ones is an important step because that’s how you’re going to get to experience them going forward.
- Do you want to do a necklace so that it’s over your heart?
- Or a ring, so you get to experience them every day?
- Or earrings, so you can be reminded of their voice?
You’ll have 6+ months while your diamond is being crafted to explore options, and our Settings Design Team will consult with you to help you select or design a piece that feels exactly right.
While over 75% of our families choose to work with Eterneva on their diamond settings, you are more than welcome to work with a local jeweler if you prefer, and we can coordinate with them. Note that most settings come with an additional fee, and prices will vary based on design and metal.
Curated Collection
Our Settings Designers thoughtfully selected a series of our most popular design styles for necklaces and rings for both men and women as part of our Curated Collection. This Collection allows families to choose a special jewelry setting they love while minimizing the decision-making.
Custom Setting Design
Most Eterneva families opt to do a custom design so they can create a truly one-of-a-kind setting with special personal touches.
How the custom design process works:
- Initial Vision: Our Settings Design Team will connect with you and ask for your input on any initial vision you have for their ring:
- Are you thinking necklace, ring, earrings, or something else?
- Do you have a preference for metal type?
- Any reference images of styles you love?
- Personalizing to Your Loved One: Your Setting Designer will know your loved one’s story, and if you’re comfortable, chat with you a bit more about them, so they can make suggestions on little details and possibilities to make their setting truly personal. For example:
- Adding a birthstone accent on the inside of a ring band
- Engraving their EKG on the necklace
- Incorporating waves into the design if they loved the ocean, or sunrays if they had a vibrant personality
- Design Inspiration: Your designer will then share with you a number of different design directions based on your initial input (don’t worry if you didn’t give them much to start, they’re great at giving you some jumping off points!) and you can give them feedback on what you like and don’t like to dial in the direction.
- CAD Renderings: Once a design direction is settled upon, your Setting Designer will offer 2-3 high-fidelity design options in CAD form so that you can see exactly what those settings will look like with your specific diamond in them.
- Finalized Design: Once you are satisfied with your final design, we’ll arrange for the custom mold to be made and the setting to be cast in the metal of your choosing. We’ll then carefully and securely set your diamond in the final piece.
Repurposing Family Heirlooms
Some families want to have an existing piece repurposed to create their loved one’s setting, which we can also support. Some common examples
- Resetting the center stone in a wedding ring
- Taking diamonds from a prior setting and incorporating them into a new setting
Settings for Men
A common question we often get is, “What can men do with their cremation diamonds?” Here are some examples of what other men are doing with their loved ones’ diamonds:
Watches - You can set the diamond into the dial of the watch, or even add a band to your Apple Watch with your memorial diamond set in it.


Non-Jewelry Settings
For those who aren’t big into jewelry, there are some unique alternative setting options.


STEP 6: Bringing them home
Once the diamond is grown, cut, colored, graded, and optionally set, it’s finally time to arrange for Homecoming, which is the day your diamond comes home!
This is an incredibly special day. Many people throw small parties or get-togethers with friends and family as support. They may also film their diamond unboxing so they can remember and create a positive core memory around this special day. If families are open to sharing their stories, we love to see these Homecoming videos and help them celebrate their loved one on social media.
Eterneva is Embraced by the Scientific Community
Our vision from day one was to build a company people could trust with their loved ones and set the Memorial Diamond Industry bar for transparency.
Joe Hansen from “It’s Okay to Be Smart” (8M followers on YouTube) recently visited our lab in Kerrville and did a scientific educational piece on lab-grown diamonds and memorial diamonds.
Professor Dave from “Professor Dave Explains” (3.8M followers on YouTube) also explained the science behind Cremation and Memorial Diamonds.
A huge recent honor was when Eterneva was awarded the Torch Award for Ethics by the Better Business Bureau. Here’s a great piece they did about Eterneva and our process, filmed at our lab in Kerrville:
Supply Chain Locations & Standards
Eterneva is one of two true US-based memorial diamond companies. Our founding team and headquarters are in Austin, Texas, and we have growth labs in Germany and Texas.
These are not geographies where the majority of lab-grown diamonds are made; most lab-grown diamond capacity is in India, China, and Russia, where labor and electricity are unregulated and cheap. This is where most memorial diamond companies outsource to reduce their costs.
Ashes to Diamonds Industry Watchouts
There are some memorial diamonds companies out there misleading consumers and cutting corners, so above all else, we want to educate people on what to look for, whether they choose to work with Eterneva or not.
Watchout #1: Companies advertising prices that are too good to be true
We know how much it costs to do this process the right way (one diamond at a time from a personal carbon source), and there are certain pricing models being advertised that are too good to be true. Take caution - we've heard of industry players fulfilling orders with regular lab-grown diamonds (which are far cheaper).
Watchout #2: Companies misrepresenting where they are geographically located
There is only one other true US-based company in our space, LifeGem. Others claiming to be US based are using PO Boxes or receiving offices to represent themselves as being US based, when in fact their headquarters and facilities are in undisclosed foreign countries.
Watchout #3: Companies that won't disclose where all their labs are
Very few companies will tell you where their labs are actually located; the reason for this is that many are outsourcing production to geographies where there’s capacity, such as Russia, China, India, and Ukraine, and not disclosing to families where their loved one’s remains are going.
Watchout #4: Companies with no third-party oversight
Eterneva is the only cremation diamond company with third-party accountability and oversight, given our institutional investor backing and partnerships with major enterprise funeral home groups. Our supply chain was rigorously audited by publicly-traded funeral home operators to ensure our chain of custody standards met their own.
Watchout #5: Companies making up customer reviews
We've caught more than one cremation diamonds company copying our customer reviews onto their websites. Be wary of unverified customer reviews - this is why we use trusted platforms like TrustPilot so you can trust our reviews are real.
Eterneva’s Texas Facility: The World’s Largest Memorial Diamond
We built the world’s largest memorial diamond lab in Kerrville, Texas, to allow families to see the process, meet our team, and offer unprecedented transparency.
Many families visit us to drop off their loved ones’ ashes, tour the lab, or celebrate their Loved One’s Diamond Homecoming with us. We’re highly intentional with creating personalized and special in-person experiences for our families because rituals help bring meaning in the wake of loss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are cremation diamonds real diamonds?
Yes, cremation diamonds are 100% real diamonds - just custom-grown from the carbon in your loved one's ashes or hair. Our cremation diamonds are GIA graded and certified, authenticating that they are real.
Where can I find reviews from people who have used Eterneva?
You can read our verified customer reviews on TrustPilot and Google
How long does the cremation diamond process take?
Our cremation diamonds process on average takes between 7-12 months, with our largest sizes and select colors (like black) taking the most time. We work on one diamond at a time, and always prioritize quality over speed.
How much does it cost to turn ashes into a diamond?
Eterneva's pricing ranges from $3,499 to $75,000, and is driven exclusively by size. Note that Eterneva is not the cheapest cremation diamonds company, and for good reason. We've invested in a transparent domestic supply chain and prioritize quality over all.
Here is a quick breakdown of the diamonds' cost:

How much ash or hair do you need to make a diamond?
- Ashes: ½ a cup (most adults produce 8-10 cups of ashes)
- Hair: 1 cup loosely packed hair
If you don't have that much ashes or hair, reach out to us and we can advise you! You can also always add some of your own hair, so you can be together with your loved one.
What if I lose my cremation diamond?
We intentionally ask for more cremation ashes or hair than what we need, so we can have some additional carbon leftover to safely store for families in the event a memorial diamond is ever lost or stolen. We partner with Jewelers Mutual, who insures Eterneva's memorial diamonds, and will cover a full replacement value, so our families wouldn't need to come out of pocket, and we have additional carbon to grow from in the event of a claim.
Is there carbon left in cremation ashes?
Yes, there is carbon left in cremation ashes. We have had multiple independent analytical chemistry labs test and validate that cremated ashes contain 1-4% carbon on average.
Eterneva is the only memorial Diamond company to offer third-party cremation ashes analysis for customers curious about their loved one's carbon makeup.
Is turning cremation ashes into diamonds a scam?
No, turning ashes into diamonds is not a scam. The science behind this process is well-documented and third-party validated by the scientific community. That said, it's important to select a transparent and high-integrity company to ensure the cremation diamonds process is being done legitimately and no corners are being cut.