There’s no right or wrong way to grieve, but for many, losing a loved one is an area that lacks discussion, transparency, and connection. In recent years, people have adapted to new means of communication to share life experiences with varying degrees of expression and anonymity. Social media has come to transform how we all connect with one another (for better or for worse), and memorializing friends, family, and pets is no different.
Known more widely for dancing, challenges, and ever-popular cat videos set to music, TikTok has begun to emerge as a forum for expression of a deeper sort. Users can produce short-form videos that emphasize creativity and engagement, and grief has become a topic on the rise. Video content using the #grief hashtag has 1.1 billion views and climbing on TikTok, with content ranging from tears to last moments with loved ones. Sharing also helps to commemorate people and pets while offering new ways to help memories live on.
Alternative memorial brand Eterneva created its own TikTok account in early 2020 to add to the conversation and show support in the global community. Since then, Eterneva has posted dozens of videos featuring a mix of customer experiences and behind-the-scenes examples of how they can turn ashes to diamonds.
5 Most Viral Eterneva Videos on TikTok
A quick glance through Eterneva’s TikTok account shows that the brand puts people first. Customers and their families take center stage as they celebrate ways to remember loved ones and work through their grief together. The videos also include unique glimpses of actual diamonds being made from cremated ashes and hair, all in various process stages, as demonstrated by Eterneva lab technician Kira.
Let’s look at the top five most-watched Eterneva TikTok videos and how the company creates these connections.
#1: Keeping It Positive
It may seem odd to some that the Eterneva team can enjoy what they do. And while working with ashes is a somber and serious business, lab technician Kira has no shame in being happy about the difference her work makes in people’s lives.
The most-watched video on the Eterneva TikTok account, with over 13.3 million views, shows Kira being proud of her work while featuring clips of customers who have received their Eterneva diamond to much surprise and happiness. Even through tears, it’s clear these individuals are moved by having a way to keep their deceased spouses, parents, children, and pets near to them.
#2: A Christmas Surprise
One of the reasons alternative memorials are rising in popularity is that many of the more common practices, like funerals and scattering of ashes, leave those who grieve lacking in closure or connection in the long term. Eterneva creates diamonds with the precise science of placing carbon under high pressure and high temperature in a specially designed, controlled laboratory.
All customers need to send in are the ashes or hair to start from, which is what the daughter in Eterneva’s second most popular TikTok video did. Surprising her mother on Christmas, she revealed that she had stolen some of her grandmother’s ashes to give her mom the ultimate gift. Over 6.9 million people have watched her appreciative reaction since last holiday season.
#3: Let’s Make a Diamond Series
To many, the idea that you can create a diamond from ashes can be difficult to imagine. TikTok videos showing how Kira and the Eterneva team respectfully use technology and science to transform these materials into memorial pieces shed light on the process.
In a three-part series of videos totaling over 6.9 million views, Kira breaks down the experience. All Eterneva customers receive a confirmation when the process starts. The ashes or hair are collected, measured, and transferred to a custom crucible, where they are turned to pure carbon.
Once the carbon has been prepared, it’s carefully sifted to remove impurities. Then a salt disk is formed, and a diamond seed is selected, creating a base for the new diamond to adhere and grow on. The carbon is added and pressed into the disk. Finally, the entire capsule is inserted into the machine, where pressure and temperature create a unique diamond (a process that can take 8-10 months). Then a salt disk is formed, and a diamond seed is selected, creating a base for the new diamond to adhere and grow on.
#4: Yellow Diamond
Memorials are not just for human loved ones. Many Eterneva customers choose to send in the hair or ashes from cremated pets. And the options are not just limited to clear or white diamonds. By including other elements or metals in the capsule, Eterneva can create colored stones as requested.
With 4.4 million views, it’s an understatement to say that many people have watched how an owner’s beloved dog Tiger was turned into a yellow diamond. Kira adds a disc of iron, nickel, and cobalt to get just the right shade.
#5: Commemorating a Life
We can all relate to the loss of a loved one, and seeing others experience grief and celebrate life can be a touching experience. Over three million people have watched a grandmother’s reaction to opening her Eterneva diamond, made from the ashes of her late husband. Even knowing what was inside, her pure emotion is a reminder of how much it can mean to keep our loved ones with us.
Deeper Insights and Inspiration Online with Eterneva
The length of videos on TikTok is both a perk and a limitation in some instances. Initially, TikTok videos were capped at a mere 15 seconds. Now, anyone with an account can post content up to three minutes long. However, even with an entire 180 seconds, it’s hard to capture the customer experience or complex process that Eterneva uses to create diamonds from ash.
While synthetic diamonds have been created in labs since the mid-1950s for everything from diamond cutting blades to statement jewelry, the concept is newer when it comes to the memorials offered by Eterneva. The company’s How to Grow a Diamond video gives a high-level overview of the process. But what viewers don’t see is a complete picture of the customer experience. Every Eterneva journey is treated with the utmost respect, and customers are updated throughout the process as the diamond moves from receipt to purification and then pressurization. Skilled jewelers work on cutting, polishing, and setting the diamond unique to every customer as requested.
The result is a one-of-a-kind stone that can serve as a conversation piece or a subtle reminder that no matter where we are in life, those we love are always with us.
