Royal Asscher diamonds: discontinued???

[fanboy]

I am currently in the process of having my diamond appraised. It appears that the Royal Asscher Diamond Company has ceased producing Royal Asscher Cut diamonds--my appraiser found this out while trying to figure out market price and I later confirmed it through a sales associate at Fortunoff. The company has not commented on when or if it will continue production; the remaining supply consists of smaller stones (< 2 carats). While there could always be some other explanation, it would appear that the company has not been doing all that well.

Does anyone know anything about this? Anyway, I just thought I'd pass on the word.

 

[elmo]

Although I believe the producer is Dutch, the US distributor is in bankruptcy proceedings so my hunch is that they''re simply not available here in the US until that''s resolved or new distribution is arranged. My expectation is that a company whose assets are being sold would not be able to invest in new inventory. I''m not sure what effect this has had on the producer. Take what I say with a grain of salt though.

 

[diagem]

Date: 8/8/2007 6:00:31 AM
Author: elmo
Although I believe the producer is Dutch, the US distributor is in bankruptcy proceedings so my hunch is that they''re simply not available here in the US until that''s resolved or new distribution is arranged. My expectation is that a company whose assets are being sold would not be able to invest in new inventory. I''m not sure what effect this has had on the producer. Take what I say with a grain of salt though.

Royal Asscher is a name which belongs to the Asscher family from Holland. I don''t think they are the cutters/producers...
Us distributor (which is in proceeding) were the producers licensing the name from the Asscher family (if my sources are correct...) or simply partnered for this venture...

I always thought it did not make economic sense trying to market a Diamond design which is not protected by any patents..., and charge a hefty premium.

You can get an Asscher Cut Diamond today which is cut to the exact fashion the RA was cut with no strings attached!!!

 

[elmo]

Good point DG, I'm not sure where production actually is or how inseparable the RA is from the US distributor. That's the question I have now.

Take a quick look at the article in JCK here. According to that (near the bottom) at least one of the Asscher principal's children had "already apprenticed as a diamond polisher in the firm" (he posted here briefly also) so the family would appear to be somehow involved in production. Also according to this article the firm had developed the RA prior to involvement with the US distributor.

Interesting point you bring up about strings. To sell a diamond at a strong premium I think it not only needs to be well cut but there also has to be a good story to go along with it. The RA story is pretty good I think

- a direct and nostalgic association with the famous originator of the cut. Also, you may not realize how difficult it is at the retail level here to track down a well-made, tall-crown, stop sign-cornered design. The RA is a good, readily available option for this.

Edit: p.s. DG, I have a small project requiring custom cutting I sure could use your help with!

 

[Madam Bijoux]

If this is true, I''m glad I got mine when I did.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 8/8/2007 6:33:45 AM
Author: DiaGem

I always thought it did not make economic sense trying to market a Diamond design which is not protected by any patents..., and charge a hefty premium.

You can get an Asscher Cut Diamond today which is cut to the exact fashion the RA was cut with no strings attached!!!

The RA cutting pattern was granted a patent in 2002 but it isn't enforceable and they didn't even try too.
Several of the top asscher cutters didnt cut the pattern out of respect too the Asscher family but several others did.
So yes you can find stones that are cut too the same pattern some of them cut back in the 1910s which is why the pattent is invallid.


RA patent

 

[fanboy]

The original U.S. distributor was Fabrikant, which went under; the current distributor is JB International. The Royal Asscher Diamond Company existed before ever dealing with Fabrikant and distributed its diamonds (which included several shapes) through other entities in different countries (Seiko in Japan, for example). The company, apparently, continued to cut all 'larger' diamonds in Amsterdam up until the present. 'Smaller' diamonds (I think smaller than 1 carat), were cut in China and Russia. Fabrikant never had anthing to do with cutting the Royal Asscher Cut diamonds.

I thought that Royal Asscher had a patent on the Royal Asscher Cut; am I mistaken? Otherwise, I'm surprised we don't see more generic 74-facet cut-cornered square step-cuts.

 

[diagem]

Date: 8/8/2007 8:10:15 AM
Author: strmrdr

Date: 8/8/2007 6:33:45 AM
Author: DiaGem

I always thought it did not make economic sense trying to market a Diamond design which is not protected by any patents..., and charge a hefty premium.

You can get an Asscher Cut Diamond today which is cut to the exact fashion the RA was cut with no strings attached!!!

The RA cutting pattern was granted a Design patent in 2002 but it isn''t enforceable and they didn''t even try too.
Several of the top asscher cutters didnt cut the pattern out of respect too the Asscher family but several others did.
So yes you can find stones that are cut too the same pattern some of them cut back in the 1910s which is why the pattent is invallid.


RA patent

It would be extremely hard to protect a Design patent based purely on prior art!!!
Strmrdr, You are probably right that the patent is invalid..., but you would have to challenge invalidity in court....
The thing that surprises me is..., which patent examiner would allow such a claim based solely on purely art!!!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 8/8/2007 8:23:23 AM
Author: DiaGem

It would be extremely hard to protect a Design patent based purely on prior art!!!
Strmrdr, You are probably right that the patent is invalid..., but you would have to challenge invalidity in court....
The thing that surprises me is..., which patent examiner would allow such a claim based solely on purely art!!!

All the diamond patents I have looked should not have been granted based on prior art.
Most are just plain rip offs of designs that were published 50+ years ago.
Taking it too court can get expensive for both sides but the laws are changing on that too the patent office has overturned several dozen tech patents based on prior art recently without a court case being filed.
The recent supreme court case on the subject makes them even easier to invalidate based on them being obvious too those skilled in the art/trade which is hard to defend against.

 

[decodelighted]

I kinda sensed something was up ... with the RA "clearance bargains" we started to see around here ... and RA's showing up in a major retailer like Neiman Marcus. It makes sense that the patent isn't enforceable if someone can show an antique stone (or picture) cut to the same dimensions previously. And we've all seen RA clones of the generic variety -- which is why we recommend them (for cost savings vs. prestige).

Bottom line (imo) -- Asschers are a tough sell and will always be a tough sell -- for the same exact reasons they were originally discontinued: face up appearance vs. weight. You pay MUCH more for the size apperance and have to have better color & clarity than almost any other cut -- because there's nowhere for either flaw to hide in such an open cut. And because of the unique optical properties -- they're almost impossible to "get right". Get that perfect combo of patterns & scint & fire & sparkle.

The good news for folks who have them -- I'd guess they'll have collector value one day ... and will def be "unique" for years & decades & centuries to come.

ETA: Here's a link to the Neiman Marcus Royal Asscher selection currently online

 

[fanboy]

With regard to the 'clearance bargains', I believe that what we're observing is the result of some brokers/vendors buying too many stones when Fabrikant dumped its inventory and not being able to sell them fast enough. Someone earlier posted about a D VS1 2.96 carat Royal Asscher for ~$50k: that's a steal. $50k wouldn't normally buy you 3 carats in that quality of any other cut, nonetheless a Royal Asscher.

My guess is that recent low-ball prices are a result of the above market anomaly. It will be interesting to see how things shake down in the near future--apparently there are no large, high quality stones left in the inventory.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 8/8/2007 11:16:06 AM
Author: fanboy
With regard to the ''clearance bargains'', I believe that what we''re observing is the result of some brokers/vendors buying too many stones when Fabrikant dumped its inventory and not being able to sell them fast enough.

Agree completely! Especially since there wasn''t an organized marketing effort still in place. One that could explain to jewelers & consumers WHY they had to have Royal vs. Regular.

It''s interesting about the large sizes being gone first & completely intuitive IMHO -- that''s where RA''s SHINE. That''s where the difference b/wn RA & Generics really SHOWS. The extra facets in under 1ct stones may actually HINDER the stone''s beauty/desireability ... why pay MORE for the privilege.