Question for Dave Atlas : asscher cut desirable proportions

[ayala_jessica]

Dear Dave,
dear Pricescopers,

First of all, my warmest thanks for the rich and wonderful information you share with us on this site and on AGA. YOur charts for fancy shapes helped me a lot to understand better the desirable standards of well cut emerald shape stones.

Probably I am not the first one to ask about the desirable standards for a beautiful asscher and as far as I read here, the beauty of the asschers in particular is a question of personal taste. However, in Switzerland where I live, it is nearly impossible to see asschers in jewelry stores except for one place that has a couple of very small royal asschers already mounted (at an exorbitant price !) and that did not help me much to catch the beauty of the cut.

So I seek advice about which specs can contribute significantly to the beauty of an asscher and what is to be avoided.

Thank you very much for your help.

Jessica

 

[oldminer]

The Royal Asschers pretty much establish the modern proportions. They tend to be quite deep with high crowns. The corners are broad. What we have is a diamond that weighs a lot for its relatively small spread. They are very pretty when well cut, but no one says they look their weight, or are a showy, spready stone.

There are no agreed proportions for Asscher Cut in general, but I believe Royal Asscher runs from about 73% to nearly 79% depths. If I'm incorrect, maybe someone who has better data will chime it.

The thing about the Asscher cut is its large flashes of light versus the small flashes from differently cut emerald cuts, princess or rounds. Maybe they make up for their relatively small size appearance by being very pretty. No doubt, that's what many of their proponents would say.

 

[starryeyed]

Hi Ayala.

Just thought I'd point out that there are some recent discussions about asschers that you might find useful:

Vendors must find PS Asscher Education annoying

asscher question

Also, there are a few helpful threads in FAQ's:

asschers and ASET a sneak peak

All About Asschers

Why good asscher photo's are hard

I'm sure there are more and perhaps someone will post addtional useful links. Asschers are gorgeous!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 12/8/2006 7:16:58 AM
Author: oldminer
The Royal Asschers pretty much establish the modern proportions. They tend to be quite deep with high crowns. The cornsers are broad. What we have is a diamond that weighs a lot for its relatively small spread. They are very pretty when well cut, but no one says they look their weight, or are a showy, spready stone.

There are no agreed proportions for Asscher Cut in general, but I believe Royal Asscher runs from about 73% to nearly 79% depths. If I''m incorrect, maybe someone who has better data will chime it.

The thing about the Asscher cut is its large flashes of light versus the small flashes from differently cut emerald cuts, princess or rounds. Maybe they make up for their relatively small size appearance by being very pretty. No doubt, that''s what many of their proponents would say.

well said.
The deepest RA iv seen the specs for was around 75% it wouldnt shock me to see one deeper.
They tend to run right at 70% +/- a couple percent.

 

[ayala_jessica]

Thank you all very much for your precious help !

How does a total depth of 70+% improve the beauty of an asscher compared to a depth of let''s say 65-66% ? Does it have anything to do with a high crown for increased brilliance?

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 12/8/2006 3:55:02 PM
Author: ayala_jessica
Thank you all very much for your precious help !

How does a total depth of 70+% improve the beauty of an asscher compared to a depth of let's say 65-66% ? Does it have anything to do with a high crown for increased brilliance?

As long as the crown height stays about 10%, 65% or even 60% is fine.
But right now the best generic asschers are running in the 65to 69 range +/-.
The rough isnt readily available to cut shallower ones and keep them affordable.
There are some shallower smaller ones on the market but a lot of them have large or bigger culets.
Finding a kicken shallow asscher right now is a once in blue moon deal.

 

[ayala_jessica]

Thanks Starryeyed and Storm ! I am reading the threads you gave me and I still have a long way to go to get into this highly scientific stuff

But the uniqueness of the asscher is worth the study !! I won''t be able to look in real life at many specimens until I come to the US !

Is H VS2 still enough for an asscher or would it be better to go higher ?

 

[strmrdr]

h vs2 is fine to my eyes in an asscher.