Sapphire (rare 'Trapiche' habit)

Item Description

The word "Trapiche" comes from the name of a Spanish mill consisting of wooden spokes or rollers that were designed to extract the juice from fruit, including olives, dating back to the Middle Ages. The term has been used since 1879 when Emile Bertrand used it to describe Emeralds from Colombia. The dark six-sided star shaped patterns seen inside the crystals (when viewed looking down the "c" axis) are similar to the actual spokes of a trapiche machine. These rays appear much like asterism, the only difference being that they are fixed and do not move. A Trapiche is the result of the hexagonal shape of the crystal, where the darker impurities interrupt the growth of the crystal and are pushed to the center of the crystal and then radiates out in the six directions of the corners of the crystal. Here we have a beautiful example of the classic, rare and desirable "Trapiche" habit seen in this Sapphire from Mong Hsu in Myanmar. This piece is a polished cross-section that has sharp, black, well-defined "spokes" or "legs" sitting in a beautiful, gemmy pink background.  If you look closely, you can see this piece is actually a bi-colored crystal, as there are small patches of blue zoning here and there. A great piece for any collector, or an excellent center stone for a pendant or other piece of jewelry.