Virtual Tour of the Algordanza Production Facility
View the production of a memorial diamond, a world's first exclusive！
Algordanza has the world's first and perhaps only, published memorial diamond production that is open to the public for viewing. We welcome our clients to visit and learn more about the processes involved in transforming ashes to diamond.
We would recommend a unique and beautiful experience to collect your diamond from our Swiss headquarters where the journey is relaxed, scenic and our staff are more than happy to help plan your trip for you.「Of course, sometimes it is difficult to travel so far, so why not take a virtual tour with us on the web!
The city of Zurich to Chur
The City of Chur is the birthplace of Algordanza. It is approximately 1.5 hours from Zurich by express train, and you can get there in about two hours from Zurich airport.
Chur is the capital city of the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland's oldest city with a history of 5000 years. Along with the historic streets of the city to see, you can ride on a number of world-famous mountain railways that arrive and depart from Chur. Some of these routes that the run through have become world heritage routes, where you can enjoy spectacular views of the Swiss Alps.
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| Zurich Central Station | Chur City | Glacier Express Train |
Algordanza Headquarters
At the end of 2010, a major development in Algordanza production facilities occured. It was relocated 10km from Chur and moved to a brand new premises in the city of Ems. Called "Ems" in German, the town is also known as "Domat" in Romansh, the city has and official name of Domat / Ems since 1943. Ems is a smaller town, and you can be picked up from the town of Chur during your visit.
With our new building away from the hustle and bustle of the city, EMS, makes for a peaceful place surrounded by mountains, and our memorial diamonds are produced in this serene environment. One can even at times see a family of wild deer nestling behind the vacant lot of the headquarters of Algordanza.
The purpose of moving to the new premises is clear. It is, the long-held desire for increase production capacity and make quality improvements. Currently, the new building contains a well equiped laboratory for carbon extraction, and also machinery for diamond crystalization and eventually will include the production of cut diamonds.
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| Domat / EMS | Algordanza Head Quarters | Mountain Views from front office |
Meeting our Team
Welcoming you to our office, we begin with Ms Alana. It is she who looks after the ashes that are transported to our headquarters where she prepares each package by numbering each one and entering its details into the Algordanza database. Once into the system, each order is processed one at a time and the procedures that follow are set. In addition, Ms Alana is a point of contact for any queries or updates about any orders in process.
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| Office Staff | Waiting Room | Main Office |
Carbon Extraction Technology
Let's visit the carbon extraction laboratory, it is reminiscent of a chemical laboratory. The heart of Algordanza. To extract carbon from the ashes that contain many impurities is a very difficult and complicated process. Here, we greet the chief technician Flurina who holds a degree in chemical science.
We do not extract carbon first, there are several important tasks before doing that. One of the things is to study the remains sent to us in detail. Remains from many countries (other than Japan), mostly arrive in the form of powder (ashes), and determining the amount of carbon inside is perhaps the most important thing. Before we begin, we must make sure that the ashes contain enough carbon to proceed. By weight, it is normally very little (less than 1g) but our carbon content of test equipment, is able to heat up the ashes and analyze the gases is to measure the amount of carbon present. Carbon content analysis data is then studied on a computer that is connected to the device, and in as little as 30 seconds (a graph) is projected and the results are studied.
Carbon extraction work then begins next. Chemicals are used to extract the carbon, and it is important to wear goggles to protect the eyes.
First, the ashes are mixed in with chemicals that separate the rough parts of carbon. The state is still rough, but by floating a strainer on top we are able to separate more parts of the rough carbon. We will do this to extract rough and pure carbon parts.
The carbon is then mixed with other chemicals in a flask, and heated for about 2 hours. It is then strained into pure carbon and more chemicals are added, then subjected to drying for a few hours to obtain the carbon. This chemical process is usually repeated three times, in order to obtain purer forms of carbon. So a six-hour drying time is common, as carbon extraction is time-consuming task. Thanks to her careful work, Flurina is able to obtain a high purity of carbon from the ashes.
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| Flurina (laboratory chief) | Carbon Content Analyzer | Carbon Extraction Method |
Diamond Crystallization Procedure
Now its time to visit the production room where immediately noticeable is a state of the art equipment for diamond crystallization that was recently introduced. Algordanza has developed its own diamondcrystallization machine, and new machine represents the most advanced of its type born from industrial-academic cooperation. It has excellent stability control of the temperature and pressure, thereby shortening and stabilizing diamond production. It is also expected to improve the quality of the diamond.
Responsible for this department is a very tall man named Frank. He was a financial executive originally, who studied both economics and engineering at university and will happily explain to you why he got involved in the design of this machine.
The crystallization apparatus and equipment are large scale and needed to be powerful enough to produce these small memorial diamonds. The machine was so heavy, the floor of the production space needed to be re-enforced to handle the load. The machine replicates a natural environment like the condition under a volcano or in between the tectonic plates of the Earth as they rub over one another - but in a very small space. Instead of taking hundreds of millions of years, we can crystallize diamonds in a few weeks. The machine works quietly, and you will only notice the pressure and temperature meters moving.
The machine is housed in a robust case that surrounds the diamond core, and during the crystallization of carbon into diamond, heat can reach up to 2500 deg C and pressures of more than 60,000 bar.
When the process is complete, the diamond core is removed from the machine once the pressure has been released and the machine has cooled down. The diamond core looks like an oyster and is opened up to reveal what looks like a rough grainy stone. In fact it is a rough diamond.
This is then polished and cut by skilled craftsmen, and after inspection, will depart to Hong Kong for certification from a recognized diamond laboratory such as GIA.
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| Mr Frank with Algordanza Japan's representative Masaki Norizuki | Crystalization Machine | Preparing to extract the diamond |
View the video tour
You are most welcome to visit
Our manufacturing facility is open to the public for viewing. We have great confidence in our process and services provided. If you get the chance, we recommend for you to take a tour of our Swiss headquarters and see this for yourself.
Office Visit Tour
- Advance booking required.
- You can visit the production facilities at any time during normal working days and hours.
- It is possible to view the carbon extraction of your order, but careful timing is required. Please contact our staff to arrange.
- Crystallization facility tours are available. Though at the moment only a fraction of the total amount of diamonds each month are are done at our head quarters, hence we cannot guarantee you will see your order in process.
- If you are unable to speak English or German, you may need to arrange your own interpreter.