Picking out the best engagement ring can be a very tough task these days, as there are so many choices available. Just knowing that you want to buy a solitaire diamond ring is not enough. You will also need to know which metal you would like the band to be made from. And then there is the question of which diamond cut would look best for you. As ever, it is those fashionable celebrities who come to the rescue. Mariah Carey and Jessica Alba have both been photographed with their asscher cut engagement rings, so those are looking like the ones to be seen in nowadays. If that is not enough of a clue, then Charlotte from TV series “Sex and the City” was also presented with an asscher cut diamond engagement ring in one of the shows, so that should seal the deal for you.

At first glance an asscher cut gemstone looks quite similar to an emerald cut, but actually on closer inspection you will see that the asscher cut is square whereas the emerald cut is rectangular. Some loose terminology has crept in, and you might hear people referring to asscher cut as “square emerald cut” which is pretty unhelpful. The cut is not anything new; although it is becoming more and more popular these days, it is actually over a century old, having been devised in Holland by the Asscher brothers in the early 20th century.

The Asscher Diamond Company became the Royal Asscher Diamond Company in 1980 after Queen Juliana bestowed the honor on it. The same family is still in control of it, and they developed a brand new cut to celebrate their royal seal of approval, which they called the Royal Asscher cut. It is similar to the more usual cut, but has a higher degree of precision, giving a more symmetrical result.

Despite the shape of the asscher cut looking like a square, actually the four corners are removed during the cutting process, so the shape is really an irregular octagon. The effect of this is to draw your gaze deep into the center of the gemstone. It looks absolutely beautiful and would be perfect for solitaire diamond engagement rings or three stone rings, with the asscher cut gem at the center, flanked by two round cut diamonds.

The fashion in recent times is for antique engagement rings, but you would be unwise to start looking for an asscher cut antique diamond ring, because as the popularity of this diamond cut has increased, most of the genuine old Art Deco specimens have been bought by collectors, or by couples who had the same romantic idea as you did, long ago. That shouldn’t stop you from buying an antique-style asscher cut engagement ring though. It will still have all the style and romance, if not the history and age.

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