Lifegem is a company that, in essence (pardon the pun), takes a loved one's essence, or carbon, and makes a gem out of it. This can be done with cremated remains or from a simple lock of hair if they wish to still be buried. Animals can also be participants in this process. The end result is a gem of your desired color and/or cut which can be mounted however you desire.

I'll post my own thoughts on this enterprise later, but for now here are the...

Questions for Debate:

1) Do you find this to be a brilliant business opportunity, or creepy exploitation of the dying (and grieving) process?

2) Would you consider buying a lifegem for a loved one or a pet? Would you wear the results of the process?

3) Would you consider having your remains made into a lifegem for your loved ones?

I think it's a legitimate business offering a unique service that people might want. Everyone wishes they could keep a piece of their loved one as a momento. I guess for some, a picture or a gift isn't enough.

I'm with you on the creepy thing, though. It reminds me of the serial killer who kept the teeth of his victims as prizes. "You too can be a weirdo and keep human remains as a momento".

I'm not sure. I think it's a novel idea, considering the alternative is to be shoved into the ground to rot, or stuck in a crematory to be burned to ashes.

Hey, once I'm dead, I'm dead. If my loved one wants to turn my remains into a rock and wear it around her neck, I'm not going to know any different. And if it helped her deal with the grief, then I'd be all for it.

I think my wife would look at me funny if I asked her if I could turn her into a necklace when she passes on. I'll bring it up at Thanksgiving Dinner this year and see what she says.

1) Do you find this to be a brilliant business opportunity, or creepy exploitation of the dying (and grieving) process?

Both a brilliant business opportunity and kind of creepy at the same time (though I don't think it's an exploitation). Let's face it; all the trappings of death are exploitative. A box that will never see the light of day after burial and costs thousands of dollars for padding and satin and fine woods for the "comfort" of the deceased can also be considered exploiting the livings' grief (let's face it - the dead don't care). The whole business of death (and whoo boy is it a business!) exploits the grief of the living, and is creepy in the extreme. I have never understood why some insist on pumping the dead full of chemicals and slapping on gobs of makeup so they "look good" at the funeral. The person still looks dead - their soul has gone and it shows. Seeing a loved one that way adds trauma to an already traumatic experience. Personally, I prefer to remember my loved ones as they were when they were alive.

I don't think "lifegems" are any more exploitative than the average funeral.

2) Would you consider buying a lifegem for a loved one or a pet? Would you wear the results of the process?

From what I understand, they are very expensive, or I might consider it for my pets that have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

3) Would you consider having your remains made into a lifegem for your loved ones?

Pffffffffft, no one would want to "wear" me.

1) Do you find this to be a brilliant business opportunity, or creepy exploitation of the dying (and grieving) process?

Both! The funeral business, in my opinion, is a fine example of the fact that nobody ever went broke by selling bad taste to the American public. (For another example, look at the wedding industry.) This will sell like hotcakes because it is tacky and morbid.

2) Would you consider buying a lifegem for a loved one or a pet? Would you wear the results of the process?

No. Let the dead be dead. They no longer exist, and never will exist again.

3) Would you consider having your remains made into a lifegem for your loved ones?

No. Obviously, I can't care about anything after I am dead, so, in that sense, it doesn't matter if I am encased in gold or used for dog food. While I am still alive, however, recycling all of my body for medical purposes seems like the best idea.

Do you find this to be a brilliant business opportunity, or creepy exploitation of the dying (and grieving) process?

I have to agree with Vicki (via H.L. Mencken) that nobody ever went broke underestimating the tacky morbidity of the American people. It's no more exploitative (and no less creepy) than the funeral industry in general - which is pretty damned exploitative (and creepy).

Would you consider buying a lifegem for a loved one or a pet? Would you wear the results of the process?

I think I'd prefer having them stuffed and propping them up on their favorite piece of furniture. Maybe take them out to a restaurant occasionally - or to the movies. Or, in the case of a pet, drag them around the yard on a leash every so often. Sounds much healthier than using my Aunt Thelma to adorn a pierced nipple.

Would you consider having your remains made into a lifegem for your loved ones?

Would I consider it? That would be a "no". And if a loved one had such designs on my mortal remains, it would totally weird me out - and they'd rapidly lose their "loved one" status.

OMG, that was funny! Thanks, Wertz, I needed that this morning.

Okay, to the questions...

1) Do you find this to be a brilliant business opportunity, or creepy exploitation of the dying (and grieving) process?

Well, a little of both. I'm not into "keeping" remains of anyone in the house...neither ashes in an urn nor a stuffed pet poodle or hamster on the mantle. But some people do so that makes this a brilliant business opportunity (though a bit creepy to me personally).

2) Would you consider buying a lifegem for a loved one or a pet? Would you wear the results of the process?

Hm. Seems to me that taking a lock of someone's hair and placing it in a locket is pretty common. I've never done it, never felt the need to keep any of my husband's hair or....whatever. But here's a thought. How about making these 'essence' gems on living loved ones...with their hair. I wonder how much hair it requires? It's a lot easier to remove a nipple ring than a tattoo and each lover would have the other's "essence" to wear when they are alive. It wouldn't be creepy to still own it once they were dead, and would likely then actually remind them of their life together. I don't think I'd ever do this with a dead loved one, but extreme grief can lead people to do some weird things. I just hope I'll never have that level of grief and die first (painlessly, in my sleep, knock on wood).

3) Would you consider having your remains made into a lifegem for your loved ones?

Christ, no.

1) Do you find this to be a brilliant business opportunity, or creepy exploitation of the dying (and grieving) process?

To me this is a useless product. I have a pretty good handle on what death is all about, so funerals are meaningless too. I've gone to them for the living, not to assuage any feelings of my own. I do have feelings, it's just that funerals or trinkets don't help or hinder.

A good many people need something physical. I'll never make fun of them for having this need. It's serious stuff. Death can be the most frightening thing, especially when it's far away and mysterious. Strangely enough, when it draws closer the fear seems to evaporate. Then there's the sudden death, no time for fear. My mother and sister went out on morphine drips.

I can see where someone would want a ring or pendant with a gemstone made from the remains of a loved one. Emotions often need to attach to something, so this business is seeking to fullfill a need. That makes it legitimate. Creepy or brilliant? That depends on point of view. Personally it doesn't cause me the creeps, nor do I think that it's brilliant. It is exploitation. What business is not exploitation? I exploit my clients' needs for writing. They pay me, and that's that.

My hope is that after I die my remains get put to good use. Recycle any usable parts, but I really doubt anthing will be in good enough shape. Maybe some parts of the eyes, they seem to be holding up. If anyone wants a gem stone made out of the remains, that's their business. I won't encourage or discourage it.

However, if someone shows me something like this, I think it would be a fine conversation piece, something to initiate the memories and perhaps start a living friendship. It's certainly not as creepy as a stuffed dog. And the person would want to reveal the hidden secret behind the gemstone. Would that be an expression of trust? Likely so. But if it's a brag, then forget about initiating a friendship.

Questions for Debate:

1) Do you find this to be a brilliant business opportunity, or creepy exploitation of the dying (and grieving) process?

Creepy brings to mind an "artist" in Paris...

I was married to my first wife at the time, so it was at least twenty years ago. He was obtaining the bodies of homeless people when they died, and in every case had signed legal papers on the body when they were found. The bodies were drained of blood, and the blood was replaced with a monomer. The body was posed, and a catalyst was then added. The then rigid body was dressed, painted, and left sitting on a park bench, or in a subway, etc. Prosecutors were trying to decide what crime was being violated and police were looking for the artist. I wrote a letter to a newspaper suggesting that they should contact Marcel Marceau, as sooner or later the artist would watch a United Negro College Fund ad and decide that, "A mime is a terrible thing to waste."

By the end of my career I was on a maintenance job that, on a slow night, made a Maytag repairman look busy. A couple of us used to joke among ourselves that if we died on the job, we should be preserved in such a fashion (My employer made a usable monomer.) and used as a tool rack and radio holder. Someone would continue to fill out our time cards, and we would continue to be paid until we failed to respond to a radio call, and it was discovered that we had died.

2) Would you consider buying a lifegem for a loved one or a pet? Would you wear the results of the process?

No, I don't see this company collecting any raw materials from me, let alone cash.I am 62 years old, and I am wearing a watch and a wedding ring. PE wants "I can see clearly now" played at her memorial service. My parents bodies were donated for organ harvest and to a medical school. I once knew a bird watcher that had willed her body to a vulture feeding platform. I read once of a Forensic Training School where bodies were left in the woods to decompose and students, Professors, and Scientists monitored the process. I didn't write down the location, but I thought that might be a useful way to dispose of my body. I think the process of embalming really started with the pharaohs, and was probably appropriate for royalty.

3) Would you consider having your remains made into a lifegem for your loved ones?

I would doubt that any of them would want that kind of troublesome reminder.


Or as I have always explained it, John T. Malloy will need a closed casket funeral to keep the comedians from reporting that, "It's so sad, the undertaker did his best, but he never looked that bad in his entire life."

1) Do you find this to be a brilliant business opportunity, or creepy exploitation of the dying (and grieving) process?
I think this is a brilliant buisness opportunity. Losing a loved one is hard. And its harder for some then others. If this helps people grieve or move on I say kudos.
2) Would you consider buying a lifegem for a loved one or a pet? Would you wear the results of the process?

I'm not married; but I could see doing this if my wife died unexpectedly or if a child died young.

3) Would you consider having your remains made into a lifegem for your loved ones?
I wouldn't consider doing it. I have a bit of an ego problem; but my ego isn't that big. lol

I think it's a brilliant business opportunity - a good way to remember loved ones.



Depends on how much money I have.

3) Would you consider having your remains made into a lifegem for your loved ones?

Sure. But I'd like to donate as much of my remains for medical use as possible.