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The ancient Arabs and Greeks believed that the tiger’s eye gave clarity of thought, activated personal power and integrated the spirit with the energy of the earth. This uniquely beautiful gem is still widely used today to promote spiritual and mystical benefits.
In jewellery, in addition to the beauty and mystery that surrounds it, the stone stands out for its versatility of application and affordable cost.
Tiger Eye Stone is a gemstone widely used in jewellery, for its beauty, mysticism and versatility.
Moreover, the price is very affordable. Traditionally, it is often used in jewellery to commemorate the ninth year wedding anniversary like earrings, necklaces, rings, etc.
The tiger eye associated with other stones in a jewellery, promotes rare beauty and originality.
It can be used in different design styles, from costume jewellery, innovative designs to classic jewellery. This shows the versatility of a gemstone with unique colouring and effects.
Tiger’s eye is from the quartz family, formed from hawk’s eye, a classic example of pseudomorphism (which is the internal alteration of the mineral, but the external appearance remains that of another mineral).
Crocidolite, which is very dense and has a fibrous structure in the form of wavy parallel bands, undergoes a process of replacement by quartz.
During this process the iron, present in the crocidolite, dissolves and stains the quartz, giving the gem colours ranging from yellow to reddish brown in bands, with lustre and a silky appearance.
Pedras Olho de Tigre, Olho de Boi e Olho de Falcão
When the level of iron in crocidolite is high enough, the yellow colour becomes visible to the body of the tiger’s eye, where tiny particles of limonite scatter between the fibres of the quartz.
It received this name due to the Chatoyanty or chatoiance effect. This optical effect is caused by the ibreous inclusions in the body of the mineral which, when they are structured in a single direction, produce a luminous band over the gem, giving the appearance of the shine of a cat’s eye.
In French chat is cat.
Tiger Eye Stone
Gemological characteristics
- Group: silicates
- Mineral class: quartz
- Crystal system: trigonal
- Chemical formula: SiO
- Hardness: 7 mohs
- Density: 2.65
- Fracture: none
- Colour: yellow-brown
- Dash colour: white
- Brightness: glassy to silky
- Fluorescence: absent
- Fracture: chipped or concoidal
Tiger Eye Stone is composed of silicate, iron dioxide, sulphur, manganese and traces of chromium.
Origin
- South America
- Australia
- USA
- Canada
- Namibia
- India
- Myanmar
The warmer tones are more common, some rare stones can be blue (called hawk’s eye), this happens when the pseudomorphism is not complete.
The red ones are obtained through heat treatment. Some green-coloured stones are rarely found.
Treatments are not widely used.
Cutting is mainly done in cabochons, which allow the chatoiance effect to be better visualised.
They have a silky lustre and the surface is smooth to the touch.
This cut gives the stone the look of a large animal’s eye. Tiger’s eye is often worn with gold because the metal highlights the beautiful colours of the stone.
Marra mamba
The tiger’s eye marra mamba is yet another of Australia’s greatest gemstone treasures.
It is found in a small deposit in Ranges Hamersley, located in north-western Australia.
The deposit is the only source in the world, so far known, for this richly coloured stone.
Tiger eye marra mamba occurs in isolated pockets in seams of blue crocidolite, they typically feature beautiful intrinsic patterns of bright metallic hematite.
Marra Mamba is related to tiger iron, an altered rock composed of tiger’s-eye, red jasper and black hematite.
Marra mamba tends to have more of a coppery colouration than most tiger’s eye, it has more hematite.
The best pieces have an overall reddish colour.
The marra mamba is unique, hard to find and very expensive when found.
It gets its name from the area where it formed millions of years ago in the large iron-rich geological formation of the Pilbara region.
Tiger eye marra mamba is not sold wholesale. The mine owner in Australia sells only small quantities at a time for a high price.
Types of lapidation
As we have already said, the most used cut for tiger’s eye is the cabochon, in various shapes such as square, round, oval, etc. as you see in the igure below.
Faceted shapes are rarer and are used to give a special touch to the design of pieces. Round shapes (spheres) and tiger eye gravels are widely used in necklaces and earrings.
Therapeutic properties
Mystics believe that this gemstone is a giver of courage, self-confidence and determination. They say that the stone possesses within itself a very great spiritual force.
It helps the wearer to enter a vibrational range, where personal strength is allied to divine strength and, with this, the person realises and fulfils all his purposes. It strengthens the mental aspect positively, making the person believe in their strength and their realising power.
They believe that the power of the stone lies in the mental and not in the physical.
The male rosary, known in Tibet as Japa Mala, in the East as Masbaha and in Greece as Comboloi, is used by all religions for meditation, prayers and requests for help.
Treatments and imitations
Tiger eye stones are usually not treated or reinforced.
In specific situations, dyeing and heating can be used to obtain stones that are redder or of various shades of brown.
In some rare cases, nitric acid may be used to lighten very dark colours.
When Tiger Eye Stone is cut and some of its intact host rock appears, it is marketed as “tiger’s eye matrix”.
Tiger eye imitations can also be found and are usually composed of resin, glass or plastic ceramics.
