Tigers Eye Stone Properties
Tiger's Eye, a form of chatoyant quartz, and is found in Brazil, Australia, Myanmar, South Africa and India. It is a beautiful stone with a variety of interesting properties, including its appearance and composition. There are several shades in chatoyant quartz; Tiger's Eye features shades of brown, other forms display shades of red, green and blue.
Tiger's Eye is made of oxygen circuitos birmania and silicon, one part silicon to two parts oxygen. It is known also as a pseudomorph, or, as explained in the book "Gems of the World� by Cally Oldershaw, "the result of one mineral replacing another." Tiger's Eye is a pseudomorph of crocidolite and the gem itself is made of fibers of quartz, which create its shiny and unique appearance. Along with its layers of fibers, tigers eye has a trigonal crystal system.
This layered and shimmering appearance of the stone is mostly caused by the layers of different fibers; however, in the rough, these tigers eye stones lack the shimmer and color differentiation that often associated with the stone, as the fibers are concealed. During the cutting process, these fibers are revealed, allowing the noted appearance to be seen. The stone tends to be a yellow and brown colored, sometimes with shades of gray or red. The color of Tiger's Eye quartz occurs naturally, but some other forms of chatoyant quartz are the result of acid or heat treatments. The brown colors come from the process of oxidation the stone undergoes during its transformation from crocidolite to quartz.
Tiger's Eye rates a seven according to Mohs scale of hardness and has a refractive index of 1.544. With its composition of oxygen and silicon, it is classified as a silicate. Some pieces of Tiger's Eye may be semi-translucent, allowing some light to pass through the stone, and some other pieces are opaque, letting no light pass through. Tiger's Eye is a sturdy gem as it is resistant to fractures in the structure. For jewelry� making purposes, tigers eye is best featured in a cabochon cut (a circular or oval shape with a domed surface), which allows for the variety of fibers and colors to be reflected nicely.
