"Trapiche" Sapphire (ex Bill Larson Collection)

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 rarely seen UN-polished Trapiche Sapphire from Thabeikkyin featuring alternating dark blue and off-white colored "spokes" or "legs" radiating from the center of the crystal. Typically, these pieces are sliced and polished to better show their internal patterns, so to have an unpolished piece (especially in this size!) is a big deal. A cool esoteric piece for you collection, or it could be polished and used as the center stone for a pendant or other piece of jewelry. Valued at $1,000. 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/