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LifeGem puts a new twist in the classic family feud — Who's getting mom's jewelry when she dies? With the company's patent-pending process, a cremated human can yield 100 certified, high-quality diamonds — enough to mollify a Kennedy-sized clan.

Of course, diamonds are already vested with meaning. They're a girl's best friend, the ultimate way to say I love you. Just try getting engaged with a cubic zirconium.

But what does it say if you pass off a LifeGem as an engagement ring? I can already imagine a Hitchcockian thriller, involving a man who murders his wife, has her crushed into a LifeGem and passes her remains off as a token of his esteem — to his next victim. Call it The Man Who Proposed Too Much … or perhaps Dial G for LifeGem.

Despite the jokes, Dean VandenBiesen, one of the founders of LifeGem, is confident that diamonds can take on a new meaning in death. His brother Rusty came up with the idea three years ago, when he decided that he didn't want his final resting spot to be in a cemetery or an urn left on a fireplace mantle.

"If you think about it, carbon is the building block for all life, and that's what a diamond is made of," VandenBiesen said.

Frisbees … And Other Ash Alternatives

In nature, carbon crystallizes into diamonds after millions of years of intense heat and pressure — forming the hardest substance on earth. In the 1950s, General Electric developed a process to manufacture diamonds in a lab. These synthetic diamonds were first used for such items as drill bits and other cutting devices. Later on, synthetic diamond jewelry was introduced.

In an age when burial costs are climbing, more people are turning to cremation, and VandenBiesen sees that as an opportunity. The cremation rate is now 26 percent and forecasted to rise to 36 percent or higher by 2010.

One reason for the trend: embalming, coffins and memorial service expenses have pushed the average cost of a funeral to more than $6,130. A cremation can cost less than $1,000.