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摘要：
德国18世纪伟大的作曲家贝多芬创作了众多不朽的交响曲，现在美国芝加哥的一家公司想要让贝多芬像他的乐曲一样流芳百世——用大师的几缕头发制造出永恒的钻石。
Beethoven composed many enduring symphonies, but now a Chicago company wants to make a Beethoven piece that lasts forever -- a diamond made out of strands of the 18th-century composer‘s hair.
德国18世纪伟大的作曲家贝多芬创作了众多不朽的交响曲，现在美国芝加哥的一家公司想要让贝多芬像他的乐曲一样流芳百世——用大师的几缕头发制造出永恒的钻石。
据路透社日前报道，欲用贝多芬头发制作出钻石的这家芝加哥公司名为生命宝石纪念公司。2002年，该公司首次从火化后的人体中提取碳元素制成了“遗体钻石”。如今，生命宝石纪念公司又宣布可以用人的头发制成钻石，让人们可以将早已逝去的挚爱永远携带在身边。
生命宝石纪念公司首席执行官格雷格·海罗表示，这些钻石被制成后将先在世界各地的博物馆和歌剧院中进行为期半年的巡回展出，以证明该公司拥有用头发制造出钻石的能力。海罗说：“我们觉得，用全球闻名的音乐大师贝多芬为我们的产品作宣传是一个绝佳的方式。”这些钻石最终将被拍卖，所得收入将捐赠给慈善会用于资助军人家庭。
为了造出头发钻石，该公司将与在《吉尼斯世界大全》中拥有最多和最贵的名人头发的约翰·列兹尼科夫合作。据悉，列兹尼科夫将为生命宝石纪念公司提供6根至10根贝多芬的头发，用于该公司制造出3枚0.5克拉至1克拉的钻石。
报道说，列兹尼科夫共收藏了115例名人头发标本，其中包括美国前总统林肯、好莱坞影星梦露和英国著名作家狄更斯等人的头发。列兹尼科夫指出，贝多芬的头发最受欢迎，这位音乐大师创作的乐曲被广泛运用于世界各国的爵士乐、迪斯科和摇滚乐中，大师也因此受到全球歌迷的追捧。列兹尼科夫指出：“贝多芬在全球享有如此高的声誉，我相信他的头发也会格外珍贵。”
据列兹尼科夫透露，早在1997年，作为美国书法文献和名人手稿经销商的西港公司就曾出巨资向拍卖行购买贝多芬的头发。
报道说，从2002年至今，生命宝石纪念公司已经为近2000个家庭制作了特殊的“遗体钻石”。在强压和强热条件下，将从火化后的人体中提取的碳元素与细小的水晶和包括硼和氮在内的矿物质混和，最终制成具有纪念意义的“遗体钻石”。海罗说，大部分家庭都一次性定购数枚这样的钻石。
生命宝石纪念公司计划，将更多的利用列兹尼科夫其它的收藏品制作钻石。该公司表示，希望一些名人捐赠出他们的头发来制作钻石，开发出名人纪念品的新市场。
Beethoven composed many enduring symphonies, but now a Chicago company wants to make a Beethoven piece that lasts forever -- a diamond made out of strands of the 18th-century composer‘s hair.
LifeGem Memorials, a company that first gained attention in 2002 by making diamonds out of the carbon from cremated human remains, now says it can make diamonds out of human hair, allowing people to bury their loved ones but still have a memento they can carry with them.
To publicize this -- and to raise money for charity -- the company has teamed with John Reznikoff, who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest and most valuable collection of celebrity hair.
Reznikoff is giving six to 10 strands of Beethoven‘s hair to LifeGem, which will use it in a process to create three diamonds of between 0.5 and 1 carat in weight.
Greg Herro, chief executive officer of LifeGem, said the diamonds will initially be put on a worldwide tour of museums and opera houses for about half a year as the company tries to gain attention for its ability to make diamonds from hair.
"We thought, well, what better way to do it than with an international icon who is known to millions," Herro said.
Eventually, the diamonds will be sold at auction, with the proceeds donated to raise money for military families, Herro said.
Reznikoff, who has about 115 hair samples in his collection -- including locks from Abraham Lincoln, Marilyn Monroe and Charles Dickens -- noted that Beethoven has wide appeal. The composer‘s music has been used in jazz, disco and rock songs, including the use of the familiar da-da-da-dum beginning to Symphony No. 5 in the Electric Light Orchestra‘s version of "Roll Over Beethoven."
"Of all those that could be picked to spearhead this, I think the one with the most cross appeal is Beethoven," Reznikoff said.
The Westport, Connecticut-based handwriting expert, document examiner and manuscript dealer acquired Beethoven‘s hair in 1997 from Eldred‘s auction house in East Dennis, Massachusetts. Reznikoff said he could not recall how much he paid for the hair purchased along with other items that day..
Since 2002, LifeGem has created diamonds from the remains of loved ones for close to 2,000 families, Herro said, adding that most families order several gems.
The process bonds the carbon to a microscopic crystal and other minerals -- including boron and nitrogen --used to catalyze the carbon into a diamond, under intense pressure and heat. The diamonds are then faceted and polished into a finished gem-quality diamond.
LifeGem plans to use other parts of Reznikoff‘s collections to make diamonds that will be sold to raise funds for charity. Herro said the company also hopes to convince some celebrities to donate their hair to be made into diamonds and sold to support the celebrity‘s favorite cause.
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