MJ is forever as hair turns into diamonds

The Jackson diamond will be created by the firm which made this blue stone

A lock of Michael Jackson's hair is to be turned into diamonds to give a select few fans a unique way of remembering their idol.

The Jackson diamond will be created by the firm which made this blue stone

The star lost the hair when he was set on fire during the filming of a Pepsi advert in 1984.

Ralph Cohen, the executive producer of the video, scooped up some of the charred strands and put them in his pocket as Jackson was rushed off set to hospital.

He kept it for 25 years before selling it to John Reznikoff, who has amassed a collection of hair from famous historical figures including Abraham Lincoln, John F Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.

Now the collector has teamed up with LifeGem to produce an exclusive set of diamonds from a portion of the hair. The rest will remain in his collection.

LifeGem founder Dean VandenBiesen said: "We specialise in creating diamonds from locks of hair. Our plan is to give people an opportunity to own a diamond made from Michael Jackson's DNA. We are currently evaluating Jackson's hair sample to determine how many diamonds can be created. This will be a limited collection and we anticipate great interest."

The company previously worked with Reznikoff to create diamonds from Beethoven's hair in 2007 and sold one of them on eBay for around $200,000 (£122,000).

The process involves capturing carbon from the hair and heating it to very high temperatures until it is converted into graphite.

This is then placed into a diamond press, which replicates the heat and pressure from deep within the earth, where it will crystallise into a diamond.

Meanwhile, Jackson's former financial adviser has handed over millions of dollars of the King of Pop's money to his executors.

Dr Tohme Tohme said the $5.5m (£3.3m) was "a secret between Michael and me" and had been earmarked for the purchase of a "dream home" in Las Vegas.