An Italian Dad Reportedly Turned His Dead Son Into A Diamond

An Italian father exhumed the body of his 20-year-old son earlier this year, had it cremated and sent the ashes to Switzerland to be turned into a "Remembrance Diamond," New York Daily News is reporting.

Several other tabloids have picked up the story, but the fuzzy details, like the lack of names for the father and son, make it seem more like the makings of an urban legend.

Still, the idea of turning a deceased loved one into a synthetic diamond is actually real.

According to the Canadian company, Remembrance Diamonds, which works with the Swiss company Algordanza to grow its diamonds, the process includes crystallizing ashes to graphite. Lab technicians apply high pressure and high heat to the pure carbon in the graphite and can create a diamond up to 2 carats in size. It takes 7 to 10 months and costs anywhere between $2,000 and $20,000.