Preciousflip

the precious book

The Precious Book - a wonderful diamond jewellery story

FUTURE HEIRLOOMS

the

legacy Jan Maarten Asscher is a descendant

from one of the most famous diamond dynasties in history. The Asscher legacy is one of innovation, excellence and craftsmanship.

Innovation of cutting-edge diamond manufacturing technology with advanced techniques culminating in unique diamond shapes and cuts.

Excellence honed over decades of knowledge and uncompromising quality learnt through creating some of the most famous diamonds in the world.

Craftsmanship with inexorable attention to detail expressed through crowning cut, symmetry and finish.

Jan Maarten Asscher, 8 years old, inspecting a diamond circa 1970.

This remarkable heritage and legacy will be continued through the new Jan Maarten Asscher diamond jewellery collections.

Jan Maarten’s grandfather, Jacob Asscher marking a rough diamond circa 1950.

juBilee 1854

excelsior 1893

cullinan 1905

the

influences

1854 IJ Asscher founded company

1854

1870

arts & crafts bespoke excellence craftsmanship

art nouveau expressionism decorative innovative

1893 Excelsior diamond discovered at the Jagersfontein mine in South Africa

1880

1890

1900

art deco modernism simplicity geometric

1905 Cullinan diamond discovered at the Premier mine in South Africa

1910

1920

1930

1940

2008 Jubilee cut diamond rediscovered by J M Asscher

2008

the

history The Asscher family have been passionate artisans and experts of the diamond industry since 1854.

A diamond family of incredible history. in 1903 the Asscher’s cleaved, cut and polished the 995 carats excelsior diamond, which at the time was the largest rough diamond ever discovered. it was found on June 30th in 1893 at the Jagersfontein mine in the orange Free state, one of the south African republics. it was finally manufactured by the i. J. Asscher Diamond company into 11 exceptional polished diamonds weighing from 9 to 69 carats. the Excelsior still remains the second largest rough diamond of gem quality ever found. the excelsior diamond was then surpassed in 1908 when Joseph Asscher (Jan Maarten’s Great uncle)

Far left, The King’s Sceptre with the Cross of the British Royal Crown Jewels.

Redesigned in 1910 to incorporate the Cullinan I diamond of 530 carats.

Left, Royal Imperial State Crown of Great Britain, manufactured in 1937 features the Cullinan II of 317 carats.

and his brothers cleaved, cut and polished the cullinan diamond, which was discovered on the 26th January in 1905, at the Premier No. 2 mine, near pretoria, south Africa. it was the largest rough diamond ever found in the world and weighed an amazing 3,106 carats. it was expertly cut and polished into 9 important diamonds, ranging in size from 4 to 530 carats. the largest of these diamonds became known as the Great Star of Africa or cullinan i and adorns the king’s sceptre with the cross of the British Crown Jewels. the second largest of these diamonds, at 317 carats, was fashioned into a rectangular cushion cut and became known as the second star of Africa and adorns the royal imperial state crown of Great britain.

Far left, Brooch worn by Queen Mary for the Delhi Durbar of 1911, created by Garrards & Co Ltd in 1911, featuring the Cullinan V weighing 18.8 carats.

Left, Joseph Asscher in 1908 cleaving the Cullinan diamond.

The Asscher brothers discussing a polishing strategy for the Cullinan diamond circa 1907.

A visit to the Asscher diamond factory in 1911 by President FalliĂŠres of France and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.

Esteemed visitors to the Asscher diamond factory after 1920

h e r i ta g e

Craftsmanship heirlooms

our

Diamond

excellence

CuT

COlOur

it is the precision and artistry of the cut that decides the

Most diamonds look colourless. there are many

maximum amount of light the diamond will reflect. the

subtle shade differences. the whiter the diamond,

better it has been cut, the greater will be its brilliance,

the more valuable it becomes. in the chaos of extreme

sparkle and fire. When a diamond is cut to an excellent

temperature and pressure that created diamonds,

grade, light is internally reflected from one facet to another

traces of elements such as nitrogen and boron could

and dispersed through the diamond crown to create an

have been incorporated into the diamond’s atomic

amazing theatre of light. Our diamonds are the ultimate in

structure. it is these traces that give a diamond its

cut perfection. Excellent for polish, excellent for symmetry

colour, or lack of it. Our diamonds are bright and near

and excellent for overall cut grade.

colourless projecting a magical rainbow of light.

too shallow

Excellent

ClArITy

too deep

CArAT

thanks to nature, every diamond is unique. each one

A diamond’s weight is the simplest of its characteristics

possesses its own individuality. this could be due to

to measure, and from the earliest times has been used

minute traces of other minerals trapped during the

to calculate one aspect of the value of a diamond. the

crystallization process. these natural characteristics,

carat is a unit of weight which is divided into 100 points.

called ‘inclusions’ are better described as nature’s

A quarter of a carat is 25 points. A half carat is 50 points

fingerprints. the number, colour, nature, size and position

and a one carat is 100 points which weighs 0.20 of a

of any inclusions determines the clarity of a diamond.

gram. Our diamonds will range in size from a quarter of

the fewer the inclusions, the rarer the diamond. Our

a carat and up to one carat plus.

diamonds are only slightly included and therefore the blemishes are very difficult to locate with the human eye.

0.25 ct

0.50 ct

0.75 ct

1.00 ct

4.1mm

5.2mm

5.9mm

6.5mm

J M Asscher diamonds will all be independently certificated by the International Gemological Institute (IGI).

This diamond report will show excellent cut, excellent polish, excellent symmetry, a minimum of G colour, a minimum of SI2 clarity and the relevant carat weight.