Exploring The Burial Plot Selection Process

Posted on: 29 December 2015

If you're planning to be cremated when you die, you have an ever-expanding range of options regarding what to do with your cremains. One option is to turn the cremains into jewelry or a home decoration, either pressing the ashes into a diamond or using the ashes as part of a glass or crystal pendant or shelf knick knack. On the surface, this seems like a cool option to go with, but there are issues that you need to know about before you decide this might be what you want. Here's a look at what you need to know to ensure this option really is appropriate.

It's Interesting

There's no doubt that having your ashes interred in a crystal with swirling patterns can be neat. Your family can keep your ashes close by while also placing them in something very attractive. Maybe your spouse wants to keep you literally close to his or her heart, and a crystal-ash pendant or diamond ring would be perfect.

Less of a Mess

If you've been around cremain-filled urns before, you might have felt a bit of paranoia, purposefully keeping your distance so that you didn't accidentally knock over the urn. Placing the ashes in jewelry or home decor also fixes the ashes. If the jewelry is dropped, your ashes won't go flying around the room in a cloud of dust.

Breakage

Glass or crystal items can break, however. That means your cremains might still end up in a heap in a box as your family figures out what to do with the broken glass or crystal. The company that made the item might be able to melt the glass or crystal down again and create another item, but there's no guarantee of that. Worse, if the item breaks when you're not around -- maybe someone's house-sitting while you go on vacation -- that person could accidentally throw away the broken glass or crystal, and the ashes, if he or she doesn't know that the item contained cremains.

Theft

Jewelry and decorations can be stolen. Thieves aren't going to care if the diamond pendant you have is really full of ashes -- they'll just see the stone and think it might be worth selling. Your child's new friend could have some personal issues and steal a shelf knick knack. Basically, putting cremains into something as small and pretty as jewelry or a home decoration will open it up to theft.

Later Generations

There's also the question of what happens to the item as your family gets older and passes on their belongings to future generations. The information about the item containing cremains can get lost over time. In other words, your great-grandchildren could see the item as just another thing from someone in the family. That means they could end up giving the item away if they decide they don't want it, and your ashes would go around from place to place, owned by people you don't know.

If you are OK with the risks -- you don't mind what might happen many decades from now, and you accept that there are theft and breakage risks -- then having your cremains placed in jewelry or glass/crystal decor could be a very pretty final resting place for you. If you want more information about these options, talk to your chosen funeral home and to the people who work with the home's crematorium.