Trapiche Sapphire

Item Description

You will see the word "Trapiche" appear most often in the gem/mineral world in reference to Rubies, Sapphires and Emeralds. The term is used to describe certain gems with a distinct hexagonal growth pattern, and it originally 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. After a bit of research, I found that the term was used in the gem/mineral world back in 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 wonderful Trapiche Sapphire crystal from Thabeikkyin featuring alternating dark blue and off-white colored "spokes" or "legs" radiating from the center of the crystal. The piece weighs 2.69 carats. Valued at $500 retail. From the collection of Bill ("Burma Bill") Larson of Fallbrook, California. Bill is a well-known gem and mineral dealer as well as a miner and collector. Bill traveled the world for decades in search of fine gems and minerals, and was directly involved in the in-person acquisition and importation of superb specimens and stones from Myanmar (Burma). You can read his biography at https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/larsonwilliam-f/