Engagment Ring Help!

[lemonsqueezy]

Hello!
I'm brand new to the forum and would like some help identifying some details of my engagement ring. My fiance purchased it secondhand so we don't know it's story: how old it is, who made it, where it was made, etc..
There seems to be a makers mark on the inside of the ring.

I can tell you the details I got from a very basic appraisal:

14k white gold
Center stone measures 5.50 x 5.60 x 3.47mm, total carat weight is 1.01, VS 2- SI 1, color H
There are 54 side stones: .91 ct, VS 2- SI 1, color F

What I can't tell,also, is if that center stone is considered asscher cut or a square emerald cut..

thoughts?

 

[LGK]

Do you have any pictures with the band in focus? Also, if you have a pic of the underside of the ring- like the where the stone is set shot from underneath- that'll tell us more about the way the ring was made, which can date it a lot better. If it is really, really smooth and very thin and fine under the gallery, it is probably die struck and thus antique. If it is thicker, and uneven in texture, it's probably cast and therefore relatively modern. Die struck settings are absolutely gorgeous- the technique allows much finer detail, more delicate filigree and the tensile strength of the metal is better and no chance of porosity. Only one maker, Van Craeynest, makes die struck settings in the antique style today and their settings run in the many, many thousands.

As for Asscher vs. Square Emerald, I believe that the only "true" asschers today are by the actual Asscher Company, the branded Royal Asscher Cut. Other than that they're all technically square emeralds. But people use the term asscher anyway for the square emeralds and nobody's gonna think twice about the useage. As for antique stones I think it's even less clearcut, so if it is an actual antique square emerald, you can call it an asscher and nobody's gonna disagree. (I'm pretty sure I got that right anyway!)

The maker's mark is unlikely to be indentifiable, generally. There were just so many zillions of makers of settings that there isn't a reference book with them all identified like, say, with pottery or porcelain marks. A few are obvious like the really big name jewelry houses, and like Orange Blossom for example, but most of them aren't.