A distinct yet indescribable something influences the creative process when writing a contemporary true story with old roots. That was my experience for certain when I started working on the story of the Asscher family of Amsterdam. Headed by siblings Lita and Mike Asscher, their legendary family-founded and -run brand Royal Asscher Diamonds dates back six generations to 1854. While I planned to tell a story of today's Royal Asscher, my pen apparently had its own plans on how the story should unfold. As the ink formed letters, words, and sentences, an homage emerged to one family's surrender and fidelity to the craft of diamond cutting.
Little known to most, the story of Royal Asscher forms key chapters of the diamond industry's story (and foundations.) As the indisputable first Grand Master of the art of diamond cutting, the family forever occupies the vernacular of gemmology with their Asscher Cut, the world's first patented diamond cut. The shape formed by this cut is so sublime that starlet Liz Taylor once wrote an ode to it from her experience of gazing into her Krupp diamond, a show-stopping 33.19-carat Asscher Cut rock! “When I look into it, the deep Asscher cuts, which are so complete and ravishing, are like steps that lead into eternity and beyond.”
While it became quickly evident that the Asschers had a supernatural gift to see the perfect cut concealed within a rough diamond and the artisanal skill to release it, they refused to turn a blind eye to the unsavoury practices related to diamond mining. In fact, the Asschers are one of the key architects of today's regulations that prevent abuses in the diamond sector - another manner in which they make diamonds even more beautiful.
As the Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns wrote, 'The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.' While I had plans to tell one version of the Royal Asscher story, my mental blueprint got highjacked by a greater storytelling force. And what would have surely been a heartfelt tale of one family's backstory became this transcribed soliloquy to the Asscher's endless legacy of beauty. After all that's said, done and written, the real magic of Royal Asscher's story is how it reminds the reader that in finding one's true Self in what you do, passion becomes the source of energy, and infinite is its supply. It's no wonder Royal Asscher diamonds feature in jewellery worn by the greatest diamond fans the world over - from celebrities to collectors to those who simply desire a stone that is the closest a diamond can get to being perfectly cut.
The retelling of Royal Asscher Diamond's brand story was carried out by Iconomic Branding, a creative agency I co-founded. Discover more about it here.
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