We are very happy to announce that CHAKRA RUBY, a unique trapiche ruby from South India, will now be available in Europe for the first time.
CHAKRA RUBY will be introduced in cooperation with MinEmeralds, the experts for Colombian trapiche emeralds, at the Munich Show for minerals and gems from 26th till 28th October 2018 at Hall A6, Stand A6.133, Munich Trade Fair Centre.
Don’t miss the opportunity to see these rare crystals and cut gems with your own eyes!
What is the story of the CHAKRA RUBY?
The rare feature of a six lined star fixed within the mineral structure of a gem stone was first discovered in emeralds in Colombia at the end of the 19th century.
As this pattern was resembling the wheel of a sugar cane mill, the Spanish word for it “trapiche” became the synonym for these emeralds and later for any gem with a similar growth pattern.
More about trapiche emeralds can be found at the site of the International Gem Society.
100 years later at the end of the 20th century this phenomenon was first described in corundum crystals. (see the article Trapiche Rubies by Schmetzer, Hänni, Bernhardt and Schwarz, Gems & Gemology, Winter 1996) Rare small pieces of trapiche ruby and sapphire were found mostly in Burma and became a sought-after collector’s item.
Now trapiche rubies were discovered for the first time in commercial quantities and in different qualities and sizes at a mine in South India. The crystals were growing in a hexagonal form and some can be very big with a weight of over 1500 ct. They are polished and manufactured in the Indian gemstone capital Jaipur/Rajasthan by Ashoka Gems.
Why the name CHAKRA RUBY?
Trapiche emeralds are coming from Colombia and are known by a Spanish term. These rubies originate from India and therefore became known by the ancient Indian word chakra. In Sanskrit it means spoked wheel and was already mentioned in the Rigveda. Trapiche also stands for a spoked wheel and therefore chakra is a literal translation of trapiche.
