Innovative companies in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States are racing to patent procedures to turn human hair or ashes of the deceased into memorial jewelry, a service which costs up to $25,000. Since their inception, the companies have had over a thousand customers who chose to create a memento that would contain some part of their deceased relatives.

The two main providers of the service are a Swiss company named Algordanza and American-headquartered LifeGem. Carbon from ash remains or any other part of the body is converted to graphite and heated in a press. When not enough carbon is present in the sample, extra carbon is added as needed to make the required size. The cuts can come in different colors which require cooking times.

This could offer an alternative to buying from suppliers of diamonds which are produced through unethical means. The blood diamond trade has been publicized internationally through advocacy groups and feature films.

Not all firms are as unethical; Israel's diamond establishment is pushing for regulations in the form of a Diamond Law, which aims to regulate the industry. Israel criticized Indian competitors, claiming they mixed synthetic diamonds with the regular ones. Other strategies include imposing restrictions on cash transactions as well as the establishment of labs to test for and license certificates of authenticity.

The United States has a large stake in the Israel diamond market's profits, accounting for thirty-five percent in the first nine months of the last year alone. Second is Hong Kong, which shipped twenty-eight percent.

The diamond market has downturned twice in recent years, and in the past year sales grew but profitability remained low.

DeBeers has two mines in Canada in a project it claims will produce a great deal of high quality diamonds over its projected life of seventeen years. The company is currently performing an environmental study and expressed a potential for expanding the mines.