Another post to begin with a preface – there are genuine ‘Trapiche’ included stones.
Trapiche stones are uncommon – and could be easily confused with ‘star’ stones. However, a ‘Trapiche’ included stone has visible inclusions formed in a radiating pattern, either from the centre of the crystal growth or from a core made of the same included material.
Complex? A bit. These are some of the least commonly found gemstones on earth. The IGS has a good writeup on these stones, which may be worth a read if you are unsure of anything.
So, yes, there are genuine Trapiche style inclusions. They have been found to occur in a range of stones, including Quartz, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Tourmaline, and Aquamarine – with Trapiche Emeralds typically being the most well known and most desired.
But – of course, our favourite four letter auction site has a nice range of hilarious looking fakes. At first glimpse I thought they’d been drawn on with a sharpie.
I think they are a mass of resin or similar with the ‘inclusion’ simply being made of sand or similar, but I’m not willing to buy one to find out. There are, however, some slightly nicer ones – I think comprised of a series of cut pieces of stone (or glass…) cemented together, which does look a little more like the genuine pieces.
A genuine Trapiche Emerald, Luciana Barbosa / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
A fake Trapiche Emerald.
A fake Trapiche Emerald.
A fake Trapiche Ruby.
A fake Trapiche Ruby.
A fake Trapiche Sapphire – slightly better than some.
A fake Trapiche Sapphire.
A fake Trapiche Sapphire.
