They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend; and of course dogs are man’s best friends. Several companies have combined the two to help pet owners honor and remember their beloved companions after they have passed. Rather than burying Sparky in the back yard or placing an urn with Fido’s ashes on the mantle, ashes—or hair—of deceased canine and feline fur-babies can be turned into diamond jewelry.

Most pet diamonds cost at least $1,400, depending on the company used to create them, although the prices vary based on the color and size of the stones. The lab-created gems have the same physical properties as mined diamonds. Other gems can be made for as little as $250.

In order to create a diamond from ashes or hair, companies first separate the carbon material from other compounds in the remains to produce graphite. Then they will place the carbon material with a seed crystal into a metal-lined chamber and heat it to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit under 800,000 pounds of pressure per square inch. After a period of days, a rough diamond will emerge. The stone can then be cut and polished. A one-carat diamond can be created from less than one cup of ashes or loose hair. Companies can add outside carbon if there isn’t enough.

“The whole concept of creating a diamond from a personal source of carbon is not widely known, believe it or not,” Tom Bischoff, president of DNA2Diamonds, the American sales and distribution branch of New Age Diamonds Holding, a lab-created diamond maker located in St. Petersburg, Russia, told the Wall Street Journal.

A spokesman for the Gemological Institute of America told the Wall Street Journal the synthetic diamonds are made from carbon just like the naturally-occurring variety.

“That carbon could come from the remains of a deceased pet,” he said.

[Image via DNA2Diamonds]