Lot 2007
Fine Trapiche Emerald Cabochon
15 June 2021, 10:00 PDT
Los AngelesUS$6,000 - US$7,000
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Fine Trapiche Emerald Cabochon
Coscuez, La Pena Blancas
Muzo Mining District, Colombia
Trapiche emeralds are in a class by themselves and are perhaps the rarest and most memorable of "pattern" gems—certainly the most unusual amongst the big three of emerald, ruby and sapphire. Trapiche is the Spanish word for a "spoked wheel" used to grind sugar cane, which bears a striking resemblance to the pattern in these emeralds. They are typically cut en cabochon to display the beautiful spoke-like star which emanates from a hexagonal center with the areas in between filled with lively green emerald. These rays, which appear like asterisms, are not caused by light reflections from tiny parallel inclusions (as are stars), but from white albite feldspar impurities that happen to form in the same pattern. Gemological examination shows that the trapiche is a single crystal and not a twinned specimen as was originally thought. Trapiche emeralds are valued based on a number of factors: saturation and even color, clarity, size and the most important being the definition, completeness and centering of the "rays."
The present offering is a fine trapiche emerald cabochon of oval outline with a high dome, which displays a vibrant green color and a clear delineation of its six-rayed spokes. Weighing approximately 12.79 carats and measuring 16.55 x 14.85 x 6.07mm
Muzo Mining District, Colombia
Trapiche emeralds are in a class by themselves and are perhaps the rarest and most memorable of "pattern" gems—certainly the most unusual amongst the big three of emerald, ruby and sapphire. Trapiche is the Spanish word for a "spoked wheel" used to grind sugar cane, which bears a striking resemblance to the pattern in these emeralds. They are typically cut en cabochon to display the beautiful spoke-like star which emanates from a hexagonal center with the areas in between filled with lively green emerald. These rays, which appear like asterisms, are not caused by light reflections from tiny parallel inclusions (as are stars), but from white albite feldspar impurities that happen to form in the same pattern. Gemological examination shows that the trapiche is a single crystal and not a twinned specimen as was originally thought. Trapiche emeralds are valued based on a number of factors: saturation and even color, clarity, size and the most important being the definition, completeness and centering of the "rays."
The present offering is a fine trapiche emerald cabochon of oval outline with a high dome, which displays a vibrant green color and a clear delineation of its six-rayed spokes. Weighing approximately 12.79 carats and measuring 16.55 x 14.85 x 6.07mm
