Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Diamonds are forever...! So are the cuts.
Joseph Asscher's diamond cut was patented in the 1903 French patent, FR324092, titled Nouveau mode de taille de diamants. To date, Asscher’s diamond cut is still in use. It is regarded as one of the cuts that gives the most brilliance to diamonds.
Joseph Asscher was a Dutch diamond cutter, operating out of the Asscher Diamond Company, founded by his father in 1854, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Joseph Asscher famously cleaved the two largest diamonds ever found in South Africa: the Excelsior diamond found in 1893, weighing 970 carats (approx. 195 g), and the Cullinan diamond, found in 1905, weighing 3,106.75 carats (aprox. 624 g). The Excelsior diamond was cleaved into ten stones weighing 13 to 68 carats. The Cullinan diamond was cleaved into 105 stones of various cuts. The rough Cullinan diamond was gifted to the British monarch, King Edward VII, in 1907, who selected the Asscher Diamond Company in Amsterdam to cleave it. The largest cut Cullinan diamonds adorn the British Royal scepter and crown.
The four patent figure drawings showing the Asscher diamond cut are included. The drawings show the trapeze-shaped facets (c) and (d) of the diamond, with edges strictly parallel to the edges of the crown (a). The description of the inventive cut suggests 3 facets (c) for the upper portion or crown of the diamond, and 7 to 8 facets (d) for the lower portion or pavilion. The scope of the invention explicitly extends this sort cut to diamonds of varying shapes (rectangular, round or square).
The Asscher family, and entire company staff of 500 diamond polishers, were deported during World War II. The Asscher Diamond Company, was rebuilt in 1946. The Royal title was granted to the company in 1980 by the Dutch monarch. The Royal Asscher Company is headquartered in the original Asscher diamond factory building in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
References
Royal Asscher Company
2 comments:
The cuts of diamonds is what makes designer diamond jewellery stunning. Loved the read.
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