Turning Ashes into Jewelry

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When a loved one is cremated, deciding what to do with their ashes can be a profound and emotional journey. Memorializing them in a way that honors their memory and aligns with their wishes is essential. While traditional methods such as placing ashes in an urn or scattering them in a cherished outdoor location are meaningful, they can also feel final, making the process of letting go even more challenging.

To carry on their memory in a tangible and personal way, many families are now considering turning ashes into jewelry.

What is Cremation Jewelry?

Cremation jewelry incorporates a small portion of your loved one’s ashes into a piece of jewelry. This could be anything from cremation diamonds to urn necklaces and bracelets. Each type of jewelry has its own creation process, pricing, and timeline.

Turning ashes into jewelry isn’t merely a tribute; it’s a way to honor your loved one by crafting a wearable keepsake. This jewelry allows you to keep their memory close, sparking conversations and stories that keep their spirit alive. Over time, these pieces can even become family heirlooms, passed down through generations along with cherished memories and photographs.

How to Turn Ashes into Jewelry

There are a few different options to memorialize your loved one with cremation jewelry. Here is everything you need to know about the processes, price ranges, and more.

Turn Ashes into Jewelry: Urn Jewelry

Urn jewelry is jewelry that holds ashes. It can be a charm or a bead you would put on a bracelet, but more commonly comes as a necklace. If you want a necklace made from ashes, an urn pendant is an excellent option.

The amount of ashes that cremation jewelry can hold depends on the size and design of the piece. On average, a standard piece of jewelry that holds ashes will contain a small amount of remains, equivalent to about a pinch or less. This is enough to create a symbolic and sentimental connection to your loved one.

Urn jewelry could be as simple as a pendant vial or more intricate custom designs to commemorate your loved one.

Turn Ashes into Jewelry: Cremation Beads

Cremation beads are made by melting down glass and mixing in your loved one’s ashes. You can choose the color—perhaps the color of their birthstone, or their eyes—making each bead as unique and individual as your loved one.

This option is slightly more expensive than urn jewelry, but not as expensive as turning ashes into diamonds or crystals. Cremation beads are very versatile, so you can create your own personalized bracelet or necklace made from the beads.

Turn Ashes into Jewelry: Custom Cremation Jewelry

Custom cremation jewelry is made using the same process as cremation beads to create memorial jewelry, from beautiful pendants to elegant bracelets, all designed to hold a small portion of cremation ashes.

Custom jewelry is one of a kind jewelry to honor your loved one. Designers will listen to your unique stories and help you the perfect piece of memorial jewelry that reflects your loved one’s memory

Turn Ashes into Jewelry: Cremation Diamonds

Many people who are wondering how to make ashes into jewelry are thinking of cremation diamonds. This type of cremation jewelry has been growing in popularity in recent years.

Cremation diamonds are made entirely from a person’s ashes. To turn ashes into a diamond, about 8 ounces of ashes are placed in a metal container and heated to over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. In this heat, everything but the carbon oxidizes.

The carbon is heated until it turns to graphite. This graphite is placed inside a diamond seed crystal and put inside a press, where it is heated up once again, this time to about 2,500 degrees fahrenheit.

The graphite is then set aside to turn into a crystal, which takes a few weeks. The crystal is cut and polished to your specifications and anchored inside a setting of your choice. The total process to create a cremation diamond can take anywhere from eight to ten months, and the cost can be in the thousands.

How Long Does Cremation Jewelry Last?

With proper care, cremation jewelry should last a lifetime or more.

Can You Get Cremation Jewelry Wet?

It is recommended to remove cremation jewelry before sleeping, showering, or swimming.

Can You Turn Ashes Into Other Keepsakes?

Yes. You can certainly divide up the ashes to create multiple keepsakes like paperweights, ornaments and more. Because jewelry and keepsakes only require a very small amount of ashes you can even divide up the ashes and scatter ashes outdoors or grow a living memorial and turn ashes into a tree.