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1.00 ct natural Asscher cut diamond solitaire, G VS1, 18K white gold
A 1.00 ct natural Asscher cut diamond, colour G, clarity VS1, GIA report 2507991527, set as a solitaire in 18K white gold. One ring, made in our Antwerp workshop.
The Asscher, and what it asks of a stone
An Asscher is a square step cut — concentric rectangular facets, cropped corners, a deep open table. It was designed in 1902 and is the least forgiving cut in the trade. Where a brilliant scatters light into hundreds of small flashes that hide everything, a step cut opens a clear window into the stone: you look through it rather than at it. Nothing can be concealed, which is precisely why it needs high clarity and why VS1 here is not optional. It is also why an Asscher looks nothing like a brilliant — it produces long broad flashes and that famous hall-of-mirrors depth instead of sparkle.
Why an Asscher costs less per carat than a round
A square step cut retains far more of the original rough than a round brilliant, which wastes over half. Less waste means a lower price for the same finished weight. That is the whole reason this ring is €1,400 below the round of the same weight in this group, despite having a higher clarity grade. You are not buying a lesser stone; you are buying a shape that is cheaper to produce.
The one thing to know about size
Step cuts carry more weight in their depth than brilliants do, so a 1.00 ct Asscher faces up smaller than a 1.00 ct round — roughly 5.5 mm square against 6.5 mm across. If maximum apparent size per carat is what you want, this is the wrong cut and the oval in this group is the right one. If you want a diamond that looks like architecture rather than a starburst, nothing else does what an Asscher does.
G VS1 in white gold
G is the top of near-colourless and faces up white. VS1 means inclusions need magnification to find — the grade a step cut requires. White metal keeps the field neutral, which suits the cool geometric character of the cut; an Asscher in yellow gold reads quite differently and, to most eyes, less well.
One piece
A single ring, held in Antwerp, with its GIA report. Ring size and any adjustment to the setting are agreed before the piece leaves the workshop.
Related — one carat, four cuts
Five natural solitaires at about a carat, from €4,385 to €6,150:
