Cuban says diamond firm he backed not scam
Dallas billionaire investor Mark Cuban has denied that the cremation diamond company he backed on ABC’s “Shark Tank” in October is a scam, telling Page Six that he’s a “big believer” in the product.
Austin-based Eterneva appeared on “Shark Tank” in October, promoting a company that would create diamonds from the ashes of customers’ loved ones. Cremation has already overtaken burial as the most common way to dispose of human remains in the U.S., and it’s expected to be more common than burial worldwide by 2020.
Shortly after Cuban bought 9 percent of the business for $600,000, diamond expert and gemologist Grant Mobley publicly accused Eterneva of being “nothing more than a scam.”
“While these companies may be manufacturing synthetic diamonds that look similar to natural diamonds, they are not using ashes from your loved ones to do so,” Mobley told Page Six in October. “In fact, the carbon that is left over from cremation is not near enough to produce a synthetic diamond and not in the correct form.”
Eterneva founder Adelle Archer landed herself on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list for 2020. She also appeared on 2 Chainz’s VICE show “Most Expensivest” — a show in which the rapper explores some of the most outrageously expensive things money can buy — in 2018 to advertise her company’s diamonds.
The company’s petite diamonds start at a couple thousand dollars, and a 0.5 carat diamond averages around $7,000, according to Forbes.
“The technology is backed by rock-solid science,” Cuban told Page Six.
Eterneva announced recently that it would be placing more emphasis on scientific transparency through a partnership with TDI-Brooks and B&B Laboratories in College Station.
In a video posted to the Eterneva Instagram account, the company has various samples of human remains tested at the labs in College Station to show that they contain enough carbon to create diamonds.
“Yes, there is carbon here,” said TDI-Brooks analytical and chemistry lab manager Mike Gaskins.
The lab found that the samples provided by Eterneva contained 3.28 percent carbon from ashes from cremation, 36.6 percent carbon from a hair sample and 16.91 percent carbon from ashes formed by aquamation — a water and chemical-based alternative to cremation.
“We get more than enough carbon to grow diamonds for our customers,” Eterneva laboratory manager Abraham Levy said.