Urns, caskets, and funeral homes—they all felt uninspiring and morose to Adelle Archer, especially after she lost her close friend and mentor to pancreatic cancer in 2015. Although cremation rates are
skyrocketing (over 50% of the US chooses to cremate their loved ones), the ashes are usually thrown out after a generation. From the ashes of her own grieving process, Archer created Eterneva, a company that honors the lives of pets and people by turning their cremated ashes into diamonds.
In layman’s terms, Eterneva uses the carbon content found within cremated remains to create a diamond. Interestingly, there is more than enough carbon to grow a diamond from human remains. Typical human remains contain approximately 1-4% of carbon, which yields about 2.5 to 8.5 mg of carbon. This is more than enough for Eterneva, which only needs about 1 gram of carbon for the diamond-making process!
Prior to founding Eterneva, Archer received her MBA in Entrepreneurship at the Acton School of Business, graduating as valedictorian of her class at twenty-three.
Since then, Archer appeared on “Shark Tank”, receiving an investment from Mark Cuban; she has also been featured on Forbes “30 under 30” list.
Perhaps the greatest legacy of Eterneva, however, is their efforts in reducing the stigma that surrounds grief. Too often, those in the grieving process feel misunderstood and isolated due to the lack of conversation surrounding the grieving process in society. With each diamond, Eterneva bridges the emotional void of pain and celebration for those left behind.
Aw I love the idea! I definitely agree that there is too much of a stigma around grief. Too often we are expected to bounce back immediately after and resume with our lives, when in reality they will never be the same. Her business idea of creating diamonds out of human remains is genius and it sheds more light on what is happening during grief. Great post!
I think this is an amazing idea considering people don’t really want to keep around ashes forever, but probably diamonds. I was looking at their website for time/process/price. While this is an amazing idea, this isn’t for the average Jane or Jo. Their starting point is around $3,000 and still you can wait close to half a year for it. Nevertheless, there’s no better place then America to do it where people have the money to buy items like that.
This is a fantastic business venture! I find that funerals and cremation are frequently associated with grief. A diamond, in contrast, is more beautiful and intrinsic. Its certainly impressive that Archer has found a process of repurposing the carbon in ashes as diamonds. I am curious to see how she handles the logistics of taking ashes and converting them into a ring. An issue, however, I see with this idea is how expensive it is. Many people choose cremation because it is less costly than burial. Some may be unable or unwilling to pay more than what they already have. Others may dislike the idea of a company tampering with the ashes of their loved one. Overall, great job with your post!