Asscher

Joseph Asscher cut the first of these in 1902, and the shape has never entirely left the period that made it. Square, with corners cropped hard enough to give an octagonal outline, it is a step cut turned inward on itself: concentric squares of facets drawing the eye down toward the culet in a receding tunnel of reflections.

The result is depth rather than sparkle. Where a round scatters light outward, an Asscher pulls it inward, and the effect is hypnotic in a way that photographs poorly and reads beautifully in person. A high crown and small table are what create it, so a shallow modern recut loses exactly the quality worth having.

Like every step cut it is honest to the point of bluntness. Clarity shows. Colour shows. The symmetry of the concentric squares shows most of all, and an Asscher whose facets do not line up looks wrong before you can say why.

It suits people who want something with a clear point of view. In a plain solitaire it looks deliberate and slightly austere. A thin bezel emphasises the geometry. It does not want a halo, and it does not need one.