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Mike Ascher of the world-famous diamond dynasty - who has been voted the best dressed and best looking man in the jewellery industry by readers of Adornmentality.com - was the star attraction at Standard Bank Jersey’s recent private clients party at Longueville Manor.
Mr Asscher flew to the Island from Amsterdam specially for the occasion but he is no stranger to Jersey as his family have been visiting for over 50 years after striking up a friendship with the Chinn family of Hettich jewellers.
The Asscher family business is now into its sixth generation and their diamonds have been sported by the world’s wealthy and famous, including Elizabeth Taylor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicky Hilton and royalty. Mr Asscher is responsible for their Far East business.
Host Deon de Klerk, Head of Private Clients - International, said diamonds were chosen as a topic for the Christmas drinks event because of a rising interest in alternative asset investments such as art, wine and stamps.
"Diamonds are one of the world’s oldest portable assets, coveted for centuries. They are also one of Africa’s great natural resources so it’s an obvious link for Standard Bank. Mike’s heritage as great grandson to the man who cut the world’s largest ever diamond, the Star of Africa, or Cullinan diamond, made him the perfect choice to talk to our clients about the diamond market, its heritage and current trends," he said.
Mr Asscher told the audience that good diamonds appreciate well.
"Diamonds go up in value significantly and the classics are always popular. Nowadays we are also seeing a rising popularity for coloured diamonds. The other new trend is for cultivated diamonds which are grown in laboratories. These diamonds can’t be differentiated from mined diamonds, apart from their age, and are ‘real diamonds’ unlike fake cubic zirconia," he said.
His father, Edward, has received a knighthood for his social and ethical work. The family refuse to work with conflict diamonds and Mr Asscher told the Standard Bank clients about the company’s Sierra Leone charity project, Star of Africa. The conflict in the country was partly funded by the illegal trade in diamonds, now the Asscher family have created a fund for education and self sufficiency programmes in the country.
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