A peculiar service is gaining traction on social media: users can immortalize their beloved pets as diamonds, the hardest material on Earth, reports infohub.kz.
The company synthesizes diamonds from fur, feathers, or ashes of pets. Dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, and hamsters can be memorialized this way. Additionally, the gems can be made from human hair.
According to the company, fur and hair contain about 49% carbon in their keratin structure. Diamonds are pure carbon. Impurities are removed under conditions similar to those deep within the Earth.
"From this carbon, we create a graphite disk, which is placed in an HPHT press (high pressure, high temperature), where at about 1,400°C and 50,000–60,000 atmospheres, the carbon crystallizes into a diamond," the creators explained.
The stone can then be cut and used, for example, in a ring featuring a diamond from your dog's fur. Only 5 grams of fur are needed. After synthesis, the gem can be colored or left transparent.
The service costs from about 900,000 tenge for a 0.5-carat (0.1 g) diamond. The company's office is in Moscow, and its lab is in Belarus. Customers receive a mail-order kit with tweezers, a spoon, a bag, a hair container, instructions, and cubic zirconia diamond replicas.
Earlier, it was reported that a columbarium for pets is planned in Almaty.