Thanks Erica and sparklee I have often been a little confused by the "Asscher" designation.

The OctaCZ is spectacular!

Here is my 8mm OctaCZ pendant. It is the lightest light yellow color cut from the last of the Russian rough Interlap had available. But that color is no longer available.

I think this stone might be just what you're looking for. At least consider it. Contact Wink and ask him to send you one of the colorless ones on loan to see if it's for you. He has both the 7 and 8mm sizes available. You pay postage for him to mail it to you and if the stones not for you or you want to order a different size or whatever, you just mail the stone back. And don't forget, he can heat enhance the colorless to make it a bit warmer and give the stone more depth if you find the colorless color way too white after seeing it in person.

Oh that is gorgeous!! Really outshines the asscher! I'm thinking about it!

That pendant is amazing

I'm a step cut fanatic and wanted to add my pictures to the thread.

Shown below is my old v5 Asha Asscher (4ct.) next to my HOF three stone and band. You can see what looks like blue fluorescence in the Asha. The diamond looks like it should.



The photo below is a good example of the glassy, dirty look! LOL!



Now, my biggest complaint was how unrealistic it looked on me. I cannot rock a 4ct. sim and call it a diamond. I think if I scaled down to a 2ct. I could pull it off. With that in mind, my 6ct asscher BTD sapphire will be here soon! That, I know I will pull off because it's blue!

these pics capture EXACTLY what I see in my EC and sometimes my Asscher. both ashas

Here's a link to my blue-green color change OctaCZ's from Wink. Still waiting on the project phase, but I sure do like to look at them from time to time!

http://betterthandiamond.com/discussion/...taCZ#Post573475

The octacz is so brilliant, do you think a couple of tapered baguettes beside it would look like duds?

I have been following this thread, and it pains me to see the Asha photos where they look bad. I had two V4 Asha stones (just sold them on the Bistro) and they were very realistic, drew in a lot of attention when worn, and they looked great... Very glossy, almost wet, and the facets were very sharp and defined, which is a characteristic some CZ stones don't have and that is a turn off for me.

I have not seen the newer Asha EC versions, since I had these, but I also have seen the windmills vs. no windmills, and I wouldn't buy a windmilled EC stone, unless I wanted a Krupp, which I didn't like. I have an Angel Cut stone from Wink, and while the stone is gorgeous, I just don't like dang windmills! I will buy unwindmilled EC stones. And believe me, I obsess about EC cuts a lot more than any other cut.

The thing I think may be the issue is that Ashas are so white... I would love to have one in an H color, or even lower. I do think a hint of color adds realism, and maybe the super white E color makes them look glassy... Again, I have not seen newer version Ashas, but I might buy one someday in the future.

Here are some pics of the rings I used to have, I do think they looked really good and not glassy at all!









Oh, and the fire pic on the BTD EC Tiffany ring page is one of mine as well, and that was the real fire! I have no idea how to photoshop.

My issue with the Asha EC was NOT the color, but the glassy, hollow look. Compared to an EC diamond, there is no "body" (if that makes any sense) and the stone just looks plain.

I have WinkCZ EC's of comparable size, and while they don't exhibit the windmills that are prevalent in EC diamonds, they definitely look a lot more alive and bright.

But hey, different strokes for different folks....... I know that I'm an EC snob, and very picky when it comes to how they look. If you're happy with yours, nothing anyone can say can change that as you're the one that has to wear them.