The Asscher cut was designed by Joseph Asscher in 1902. The cutting style is characterized by its square outline, parallel lines and fifty eight facets. At the time of its creation the Asschers were the leading family in the Amsterdam diamond industry and so, consequently, the world.
The Asscher Diamond Company was founded by Joseph’s grandfather, Joseph Isaac Asscher, in 1854. Very quickly the company rose to prominence, as evidenced by commissions to cut some of the world’s most famous diamonds. This included the Excelsior diamond in 1903 (at 997 carats the largest diamond ever discovered at that time), shortly thereafter trumped by the Cullinan diamond (3106 carats) which the Asschers cut for King Edward VII in 1907, now part of the British Crown Jewels.
Ever innovative, the Asscher cut was the first diamond cut ever to be patented, the history of which adds to both its beauty and rarity. The company held the exclusive rights to produce this cut until World War II. Shortly after the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam in 1940 the Asscher Diamond Company’s assets were seized and the company dissolved. As a result the patent for the cut expired, and other companies began to utilize this cutting style, though not necessarily according to the specific proportions of the Asscher patent.
Thus an original pre-war Asscher cut, due to both its scarcity and elegance of proportion, remains to this day one of the most sought after and, consequently, rarest of antique diamond cuts. Simultaneously classic and modern, an original Asscher cut diamond is truly an object of timeless beauty. At Berganza we are fortunate to have a number of period Asscher cut diamonds in our collection.