Explain the asscher cut relative to this step cut

[hoofbeats95]

I don't know if I phrased that right. But I was doing a search on asscher cut spinels and came across this thread:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/asscher-cut-spinel.65066/

Apparently that's not "really" an asscher because there are no windmills?

Then I foudn this thread:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/jeff-white-asscher-cut-purple-spinel.85402/

And I assume that is an asscher because it's obvioulsy different. I think I know what windmills are visually. But what makes them? Is the first one not as nice from a certain standpoint? Maybe not as "sparkly"? Bear with me here - trying to learn.

ETA: Anyone know if/how the first one got set?

 

[FinewaterGems]

The Asscher cut was originally created by the Dutch diamond company Asscher, and was basically a square emerald (or step) cut with three pavilion tiers. More recently they''ve developed and patented the "Royal Asscher" with five pavililion tiers. Both cuts have the 45-degree (corner) facets all the way to the culet so you can see the "windmill".

Colored stone cutters have been using designs that are very similar to the Asscher for hundreds of years. Naturally, there is a lot of variation - I''ve seen "Asschers" with as few as two pavilion tiers to as many as seven! Some cutters leave out the the last tier of corner facets because they are very small and the optical performance is very similar with or without them. Personally, I like cutting five tiers with corner facets all the way to the culet because it just seems "right".

 

[chrono]

The top one is a modified asscher. It is a square step cut but does not have windmills. You can see that the center is also very different.
The second one is based on the Royal asscher cut. It is also a square step cut but has windmills and is an octagon, like a stop sign.

 

[The Joker]

Here''s a link to the information that explains the difference between the Original asscher cut and the RoyalAsscher cut.

http://www.royalasscher.com/index.cfm?pid=CU-page-1D6F09B8-4348-4D3A-B0F13622CBC952F4

Hope this helps.

Joker....