Chicago-based LifeGem has made its first diamond from the dead.

The company creates synthetic memorial gems from the remains of dead people and animals. Its first stones came from the ashes of Valerie Sefton of Scottsdale, Ariz., who died of Hodgkin’s disease at age 27. LifeGem’s CEO flew to Arizona to hand-deliver the six blue stones, which were distributed among Sefton’s family.

“It was Valerie’s wish to have her ashes given to each member of her immediate family as a remembrance of her life,” explains her father, Bill Sefton, who set his stone in his wedding ring. “People who knew Valerie knew this was the perfect way to honor her last wish.”