I was chatting to my partner the other day and I said hey what have you got new. He said I'm not sure if this is your thing but I bought some Burmese trapiche sapphires. Curious I said show me...

Mogok trapiche sapphire specimens

He sent through a photo of 3 huge sapphires. "Wow," I said it's definitely bigger than anything I've ever seen. I think the previous ones I bought were probably around a third of the size. These are cool, I can totally see I can totally see them on a men's ring. I think something with a medieval bent would look totally awesome!"

"Do you have the measurements?" I asked. He said he was out at the mines in Pein Pyit and did not have anything with him. "I have an idea....can you get someone to hold it up against their face so I have an estimate of dimensions," I chuckled. It was a funny thing to ask someone to do. 

A few minutes later I was sent a few photos. They were an immediate hit on social media. Through those photos we had a lot of queries and a lot of interest.

It's been strange talking to my partner this way. I haven't seen him in almost 2 years. He's still living in Mogok, Myanmar buying and selling stones. The last couple of years have been a challenge between the civil conflict and Covid-19. People stopped mining for a while and those that did were small scale miners who still continued as this was a means to support their family.

A lady from Mogok showing off the trapiche sapphires

Trapiche sapphires come from 2 areas in Myanmar. These particular ones were purchased from a miner in Tabaitgyin halfway between Mogok and Mandalay. Rough specimens like these are very rare to find. The previous trips that I made trying to find these resulted in only really small specimens. Most of the ones I have seen were polished and generally finding symmetry like there are incredibly uncommon.

Burmese blue trapiche sapphires from behind