The Rise of the Cremation Diamond Industry as a Post-Burial Alternative in Asia

Up until the ban on elaborate funerals as feudal superstition in China under the leadership of Mao Zedong, burials had become rituals where the rich used lavish funeral rites to show off their accumulated wealth and social status in the community. Not only did people have to worry about life without their lost loved ones but also, to live up to society’s expectations of a befitting burial.

Thanks to the recent advancements in technology and the economic boom in Asia, most of these ancient ritualshave been remodeled to fit the current modern trends with respect to the existing traditional customs, beliefs and most importantly, affordability. One of the increasingly popular post burial alternatives in Asia is; Cremation Diamonds.

What Are Cremation Diamonds And How Are They Made?

Almost like natural diamonds that are formed at elevated temperatures and pressure in the earth’s mantle over a billion years, cremation diamonds are born in the laboratory by subjecting the ashes of your loved one to a similar intense heat and pressure.

Asian countries have some of the highest cremation rates in the whole world. Cremation refers to the practice of incinerating a corpse to ashes as a form of burial, a practice that has been compulsory in countries such as China since 1985. Japan ranks at 99.97% and other countries like Indiaand Hong Kong among others follow closely at 80%.

Once the ashes have been obtained from cremating your loved one, specialist cremation diamonds companies like Lonite with an existing Asia Pacific branch in Sydney, Australia use their state of the art Swiss equipment to analyze the ashes and determine whether their carbon content is enough to form a diamond, about 200g of ashes or 10g of hair are required. The carbon content of the ashes differs in each case and the total contained carbon may or may not be enough for the cremationdiamond creation process. The ashes are then placed in a specialized crucible and the crucible is heated to over 5000F to make sure every element except carbon oxidizes and then temperature is raised further so that carbon can become graphite.The graphite with a metal catalyst and a diamond seed crystal are placed into the core which goes into a specialized diamond press capable of creating extreme tension which then starts working thus bringing the pressure to about 800,000 pounds/square inches. During the last stretch when the press is working, the temperature in the room stays about 2500F so that the ashes turned diamonds become solid. Purification takes approximately 5,000 minutes for each cremationdiamond ordered.

Popular Traditional Burial Practices in the Asian Funeral Industry besides Cremation Diamonds.

Asia has one of the oldest populations in the world. According to UN, ¼ Asians will be at least 60 years old by 2050, that’s about 923million people.

Over the years, the funeral industry in Asia has been backward and underdeveloped as matters of death were considered very sensitive and thus rendered a taboo.Today, this industry is valued at approximately $62.6B with China accounting for almost a half of the amount according to market research.

The most successful post-burial alternatives besides cremation diamonds in Asia are those that offer a dignified afterlife and a way for the living relatives to commemorate their loved ones.Most of the traditional burial practices in the Asian funeral industry offer solutions to storing urns which include;

Columbaria: These are buildings or vaults for respectful and usually public storage of cinerary urns containing cremated remains withan example of the Shinjuku RurikoinByakurengendoin Tokyo Japan which looks like a space ship and acts as a smart library for ashes. When you swipe a pass card, a machine fetches the relevant ashes from an underground vault and transports them through a conveyor belt system to the appropriate room.

The floating eternity is a sea faring cemetery designed by a local architectural firm. It contains cultural details such as a positive Feng Shui design and bamboo gardens and offers enough columbarium space for ashes of 370,000 people.

Space burials: Credited by the narratives in Japan that suggest “souls travel through the stars,” about 100 families per rocket launch send 1-gram capsule ashes to space. The satellite containing the ashes orbits around the earth for several months before blazing back to the atmosphere like a shooting star. You can use an app for tracking the satellite and can be seen with one’s naked eyes using binoculars.

Woodland burials: This includes flower gardensand tree burials where ashes are placed in a biodegradable urn near a tree or sprinkled in a flower garden. The first woodland plot in Hong Kong opened October 2003 and was at full capacity by September 2004. The ashes can also be sprinkled in an ocean, also known as sea burial. This constituted 17000 funeral rites in Beijing alone in 2014.

Online mourning sites: Unlike the previous examples, this ritual doesn’t offer a practical solution to storage of urns but allows the bereaved to create an online memorial site on which people can pay their respects, upload pictures of fresh flowers, candles, incense and post videos of prayer requests, requiem mass and the memories shared with their lost loved one.

Why Cremation Diamonds are an Option to Consider for a Beautiful Afterlife.

With the increase in industrialization in urban centers, over 188,000 people flock to major cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo and Beijing among others thus straining the existing resources. This has in turn resulted in the genuine need to protect the existing natural resources by opting for safer, more convenient alternatives like cremation diamonds.

Most people are not aware of the fact that cemetery burials release 10% more carbon than a cremation in the long run which results into suffocation of living organisms and narcosis which is a threat to existence. As a greenhouse gas, it absorbs heat in the atmosphere and sends some back to the surface of the earth and an increase in the levels of carbon dioxide results into global warming. Cemetery burials also pollute underground waters because of the buried coffin and the regular tombs maintenance.

Lack of burial space in cemeteries and in columbaria at large: On average, there are about 50,000 deaths in Hong Kong in a year in a city of 8million people. According to FEHD, there will be a shortage of 400,000niches by 2023. In addition, countries like Taiwan are overpopulated with a population density of about 10,000 people per square km which also explains the congestion in their burial spaces. Two of the major columbaria in Taiwan have reached full capacity.

Rise in prices of traditional burial spaces. The few available burial spaces are very costly and every year, the prices shoot up by almost 50%. A case in point the Aoyama cemetery in Tokyo charges $100,000 and the Ruriden Columbarium which houses over 2045 LED lit Buddha statues costs $7,379 including maintenance.

Considering all these factors, we understand why post-burial options such as cremation diamonds are on the rise in the Asia Pacific region. It is safer for the environment, it saves space, costs and turning the ashes into beautiful cremation diamonds has become a magnificent way to honor our departed loved ones. It is a meaningful keepsake that people can carry with them at all time and even pass on from generation to generation in their families.

The Cost of Transforming the Ashes of Your Loved One into a Diamond in Asia

Cremation Diamonds prices vary according to the size, the cut and the color of the diamond selected and it can take between 6 to 9 months to produce one according to the chosen characteristics. The cremation diamond can take on a naturally amber color, greenish yellow, red, blue or colorless depending on the boron content of the ashes of your departed loved one.

Cremation diamonds sizes available range from 0.25ct to 1.0ctbut can change according to the carbon found in the ashes or hair provided. Their prices may also vary from $2,500 to a little over $8,900in most Asian countries. In Australia, you can order cremation diamonds from A$ 2900 up to A$ 25800. The most expensive ashes to diamonds are the cremation diamonds that take the most efforts to produce and longer to make like the colorless 1-carat diamond.

Cremation diamonds is the best post-burial alternative that allows you to maintain a physical connection with your loved one and to celebrate their unique persona in a beautiful tribute. Your cremation diamond can also be passed down to generations to come within the family as an everlasting legacy inspired by the kind of life that your lost loved one lived.

Read More News

Do you really think that your child is safe online? Well, think again!

India overtakes Japan, becomes 2nd largest producer of crude steel