Startup that celebrates remarkable loved ones by making diamonds from ashes focuses on changing the cultural conversation around death, grief and remembrance.
Baylor University Press Contact: Whitney Richter
254-710-7539
Whitney_Richter@baylor.edu
Eterneva Press Contact: Tracey Wallace
409-651-7715
Tracey@eterneva.com
Austin/Waco, TX, January 28th, 2020—Eterneva, an Austin startup that celebrates the lives of people and pets by turning their ashes into diamonds, is commissioning university-based research on Eterneva's mission in order to academically support its grief wellness program.
In partnership with Baylor University, the research process will include evaluation of grief theory, customer surveys, data collation and interpretation.
“I’m so impressed with Baylor University’s cutting edge research and their focus on grief,” says Adelle Archer, co-founder and CEO of Eterneva. “We are thrilled to be working with them to demonstrate what is at the heart of this company and what we have witnessed first-hand with our customers-- that memorializing their loved ones through our diamonds is a powerful aide in the grieving process.”
Author of Virtual Afterlives: Grieving the Dead in the Twenty-first Century, Dying to Eat: Cross Cultural Perspectives on Food, Death and the Afterlife, and The Routledge Handbook of Death and Afterlife, and Baylor University’s Dr. Candi Cann, associate professor of religion, will be leading the research, and working toward two qualitative papers covering:
- An examination of how material objects and rituals may help in the grieving process and serve as a form of continuing bond.
- A study of Eterneva’s customer base through surveys and interviews to analyze how the diamond creation journey might aide customers through grieving and serve as a legacy project.
Dr. Cann's current research focuses on death and dying, and the impact of remembering (and forgetting) in shaping how lives are recalled, remembered and celebrated. She has examined this theme through martyrdom in her early scholarship.
“When you are talking about grief theory, it implies that someone will be able to get over grief. I find that very problematic, but that’s not what these diamonds do,” says Dr. Cann. “I primarily look at the way people are creating new forms of memorialization surrounding grief. I’m really interested in the people that are having their diamonds made.”
“At Baylor University, we want to be a light to the world. Eterneva seeks to bring light and life into a grieving process and to honor our loved ones,” says Stacy Smith, Director of Research Development at Baylor University. “I’m very excited about this research collaboration. It fits perfectly with our university’s mission.”
Research and findings will be published in a shorter preliminary report in the late spring of 2020, with a larger, more comprehensive paper produced in early 2021. Learn more about the university-backed study and Eterneva’s mission, or begin the Eterneva memorial diamond journey by contacting the Eterneva team at Eterneva.com.
ABOUT ETERNEVA
Eterneva is a consumer technology company and grief wellness brand that celebrates lives by making diamonds from ashes. Eterneva designed an intricate eight-month process to create these soulful remembrances, which is a journey that is as special as the diamond and the person behind it. Customers personalize diamonds’ size, color, cut, and inscriptions, so they serve as meaningful connections to the loved ones behind it. From interactive video packaging to hand-written letters, to a courier service that hand-delivers the diamond in a homecoming service, customers experience a level of thoughtfulness they’ve never seen before. Eterneva is based in Austin, TX, and was recently featured on Shark Tank, and on both Inc and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists. To learn more visit eterneva.com, hear from customers at Eterneva reviews, and learn more about the ashes to diamonds process.
