Royal Asscher vs Lazare

[9301silver]

I have recently learned that Lazare also makes asscher stones similiar to the royal asscher. The jeweler said they are the same quality except that Royal is trademarked. There has to be some difference? Does anyone know? I really wanted a Royal Asscher but I can't see paying the high amount of money if everything including the amount of facets are the same.

Any help would be greatly appreciated....Help!!!

 

[royalasschergirl]

Hi! I know this is a late reply since your message was originally dated in September, but I have just seen them both in person and wanted to tell you my thoughts!

My boyfriend and I went down this weekend to look at rings, and he showed us 3 stones: generic asshcher (square emerald cut), a Lazare cut to look like a Royal Asscher, and a Royal Asscher. He placed all 3 down on a tray and we had never seen any of the 3 in person, we had only researched online. Immediately, both he and I, were able to set apart the Royal Asscher -- it took our breath away. After the Royal Asscher, the Lazare was second in its "fire and sparkle" and the generic asshcer was third -- however, this generic asscher was a distant third. It was of higher quality than the other two in color and cut, but the extra facets of the other two gave them a sparkle and a fire that the generic asscher couldn''t stand up to. The other comment I would make is that the Lazare was not THAT much less expensive than the R.A. -- i don''t recall the specifics, but it wasn''t enough to compensate for the visual difference between the two. Finally, I will tell you that the R.A. has an "octagonal cut" that jumps off of the diamond, giving it an almost 3D like appearance, where the other two didn''t have that attribute either.

Our main objective in going to look in person was to decide (as you are) if the premium for the R.A. was truly worth it, and there is no doubt in our minds that the stone is worth the price! Good luck to you!!

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/10/2005 45:17 PM
Author: royalasschergirl

--- however, this generic asscher was a distant third.
It was of higher quality than the other two in color and cut, but the extra facets of the other two gave them a sparkle and a fire that the generic asscher couldn''t stand up to

Is it possible to list the stats of the three ?

What do you mean by "cut" above (underlined)... I would be surprised if they lined up an exceptional non-branded with the two others.

 

[royalasschergirl]

I don''t have a listing of all of the stats, but i can tell you the R.A. was an H VS1.

The difference in the stones to me came down to the fact that in my opinion, the R.A. has a lot more sparkle than a square emerald cut due to the extra facets in the cut. I know you don''t buy a s.e.c. for its sparkle, but the point i''m trying to make is that the R.A. makes it possible to have the best of both worlds -- you get the stunning beauty of the "deep pool" effect where it appears you can look infinitely deep inside the stone, PLUS you get a shine and sparkle that is comparable to a round cut. He showed us later a "squared brilliant" which I had never seen of nor heard of before -- and it was lovely, just didn''t have the originality and personality of the R.A. in my opinion.

The last thing I will say is that at any angle from which you looked at the R.A., you saw tremendous shine and sparkle, even when looking straight down on it; however, with the s.e.c., it appeared shiny from some angles, but quite flat looking from other angles. Hope this makes sense!!

 

[strmrdr]

A well cut S.E. will hold its own with the RA''s in my opinion expecialy in the 1-2ct range.
The problem is finding well cut S.E.s

A well cut S.E. will have a lot of fire but the a lot of them have either low crowns or improperly spaced squares which kill fire.