THE LEGENDARY WILLIAM GOLDBERG AND THE EXCLUSIVE ASHOKA CUT DIAMOND
06.07.17
‘You shouldn’t cheat a diamond of its right to be beautiful.’ William Goldberg
One month ago, a spectacular Ashoka cut diamond arrived in the lab for grading. I did some research into the exquisite diamond and my research revealed the fascinating legend behind this extraordinary cut and the diamantaire, William Goldberg. I would like to share these interesting stories with you in this blog post!
WHO IS WILLIAM GOLDBERG?
William Goldberg was known for polishing some of the world’s most famous diamonds. His talents and contributions to the diamond industry have been recognized - GIA awarded him with the League of Honor, he received lifetime achievement award from the Modern Jeweler magazine and he even has a street in Manhattan named after him – William Goldberg Way.
In the 1940’s, Goldberg started his career as a diamond cutter in New York and continued into the 1950’s partnering with Weiss, a diamond cutter, together they acquired a cutting firm to supply Van Cleefs & Arpels diamonds. During the next two decades, Goldberg partnered with William Nelkin & Company, a diamond distributor to acquire valuable roughs, he also became a De Beers sight holder and at the end of the 1970’s, Goldberg became the President of New York Diamond Dealers Club.
William Goldberg holding the rough Beluga diamond
From 1978, Goldberg began polishing a number of the world’s most remarkable diamonds and started with polishing the Premier Rose, a 137.02 carat D flawless pear shape diamond, the next was the Blue Lilli a vivid blue named after his wife, a trapezoid shape diamond, 30.06 carats from a rough found in South Africa. In 1998, he acquired another rough, after polishing unveiled the 5.11 carat Red Shield, the largest red diamond to be graded by GIA.
Blue Lili
The Red Shield
After becoming a master of polishing exceptional diamonds into magnificent treasures, the Goldberg family launched the Ashoka cut diamond in 1999. The Ashoka cut originates from the 41.37 carat D Flawless diamond discovered in the Golcanda region of South India, the full story about the illustrious diamond will be disclosed in the next part of this blog. Goldberg was inspired by the handcraftsmanship of this diamond from an unknown artist centuries ago that he decided to recreate the distinctive cut, which is now patented.
Goldberg continued to polish remarkable diamonds until he passed away in 2003 and the family continued his legacy. Other extraordinary diamonds finished by Goldberg include: the Beluga (largest D flawless oval cut in history), the Guiness star, the Pumpkin, the Briolette and the Pink Muse.
In the early 2000’s, Sophia Loren, Sharon stone and Oprah were one of the first to wear Ashoka pieces. Later in 2009, the line of Ashoka watches was launched and in 2013, the first ever all D Flawless Ashoka cut diamond necklace was created, it totalled 100 carats, it took 4 years to source and carefully cut all 66 diamonds.
THE LEGEND OF THE ASHOKA CUT
The tale of the Ashoka diamond began during the rule of the Buddhist warrior King, Ashoka Maurya who ruled India from 268 BC to 233 BC. The Emperor ruled with an iron fist and went to conquer Indian’s feudal states, where a brutal battle took place in Kalinga. The aftermath of the battle was the death of 100,000 Kalingans and 10,000 of the emperor’s army.
The repentant emperor turned his back on imperialism and followed the Buddha’s teaching for his new purpose and his new goal ‘conquest by dharma.’ He promoted religious tolerance, respect for all life, preaching dharma life and carried out charity. The diamond was carved by an edict of the King who witnessed the bloodshed and the magnificent diamond was later named in honour of the enlightened leader.
Many, many centuries later in 1947, it appeared in the West when it was sold by the maharajas and the magnificent diamond was purchased by Harry Winston. Maria Felix, a Mexican actress then acquired it, later in 1984 art investor Roberto Polo purchased the jewel for $1m. The legendary stone was sold in auction by Sotheby’s four years later for $3.85m. The buyer of the diamond was anonymous; however, it is believed that Goldberg purchased it as he had the opportunity to thoroughly study the majestic diamond and worked endlessly with his gemologists to recreate the elegant diamond cut. The diamond’s architecture is original and unique therefore it was granted a patent.
Maria Felix wears the Ashoka diamond as a ring
‘A diamond should talk to the person’, William Goldberg.
THE EXCLUSIVE ASHOKA DIAMOND
Let’s begin by discussing the diamond rough, it is said that they are carefully selected by choosing a rough which is required to be larger and longer than the average thus fewer than 1 in 5 diamond roughs can become an Ashoka and the journey from rough to a polished diamond can take up to 6 months.
The Ashoka diamond is a unique rectangular brilliant cut with streamline rounded corners, it features 62 facets than the usual 57 facets of standard brilliant cuts. The additional facets, distinctive angles, genius geometry and lack of a long culet, coupled with crisscross pattern gives the diamond the illusion of being larger. As light enters the exquisite diamond it gracefully swims through the crisscross pattern of the facets illuminating the diamond with sparkle when exiting at the ideal angles and highlighting the fire glittering with scintillation.
Chart comparing the cut and number of facets
|
Cut |
Type of Cut |
Number of Facets |
|
Ashoka |
Brilliant |
62 (34 Crown / 28 Pavilion) |
|
Cushion |
Brilliant |
58 (33 Crown / 25 Pavilion) |
|
Emerald |
Step |
50 (25 Crown / 25 Pavilion) |
To fully understand the Ashoka cut diamond, it should be compared to diamonds of a similar cut – the cushion and the same shape of a rectangle - the emerald cut. Let’s start with the cushion cut as the diamond’s architecture is comparable, the cushion cut is brilliant cut and features similar rounded corners. The brilliant cut is excellent at highlighting the fire and brightness of a stone and does so in both the cushion and even more so in the Ashoka cut with the additional 4 facets. A key characteristics of cushion cuts is that it holds its colour even for near colourless grades, accordingly a H colour stones flaunt the touches of colour but the cushion cut is an excellent choice for shape for fancy coloured diamonds as the colour appears more saturated, again akin for the Ashoka. Another fundamental feature of the cushion cut is it masks clarity characteristics due to the nature of the brilliant cut, this trait is alike for the Ashoka cut as the crisscross arrangement disguises the inclusions. I had the opportunity to see a SI1 Ashoka cut and the inclusion was masked by the crisscross facet arrangement but once under the loupe it was visible.
Comparison of the Ashoka and Emerald Diamond Diagrams
Generally, the emerald cut shape appears to be larger than other fancy shapes. The most popular length to width ratio for the emerald cut is 1.50, whilst the Ashoka cut length to width ratio is longer and approximately more than 1.60. The emerald cut is a step cut which is a different architectural style to the brilliant cut of the Ashoka, therefore the cut, colour and clarity difference have less weight than the cushion cut but for comparison purposes it will be discussed.
Comparison of the Ashoka and Emerald cut
The nature of the step does not disguise colour but promotes transparency, with stones of J colour and lower, one can see a hint of colour with the naked eye. In terms of clarity, the step cut features a large table, which acts as a window into the stone, therefore any of the slightest clarity characteristics in the table will be easily visible. In contrast, the Ashoka cut’s table is much smaller and less transparent, even though colour can be seen just as in the cushion cut, the additional facets and exemplary angles permit more light to enter to result in is a brighter diamond. Finally, the pavilion and crown within the step cut are relatively shallow thus, emerald cuts in general aren’t as bright and fiery as brilliant cuts.
I hope the next time you spot an Ashoka diamond, you recall its legendary history, the diamantaire William Goldberg who launched the one of a kind cut to the wider audience and appreciate the unique pattern of high brilliance!
Trilogy Ashoka Ring
Dipika @ IGR London
SOURCES
William Goldberg holding Beluga diamond: http://www.williamgoldberg.com/famous-diamonds/
Blue Lilli: http://www.williamgoldberg.com/collection/ashoka/
Red Shield: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Zd9igUqGzBw/StUWN7prw6I/AAAAAAAABSc/PVMswHa-ybE/s320/red-shield.jpg
Ashoka Necklace: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c3/0a/76/c30a76c658d26b2f4b74a41191571a06.jpg
Maria Felix: http://www.imgrum.org/media/1188760836634907818_1566540324
Comparison of Ashoka and Emerald cut: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/91/4d/52/914d522161abd1f6cb78fcb34a40bdd8.jpg
Comparison of the Ashoka and Emerald Diamond Diagrams: http://www.madia.com.hk/eng/ASHOKABeauty.aspx
Ashoka Trilogy ring: http://www.williamgoldberg.com/collection/ashoka/
