Tiger Eye

One of the stunning minerals ever found in the face of the earth is a chatoyant stone aptly called tiger eye or tiger’s eye that uncannily displays the eye color of the ferocious forest beast. Often found in yellow and red-brown combinations and a fabulous silky luster, this particular stone falls under the quartz family, with its optical and physical properties closely identical to that of the single crystal quartz. A tiger eye stone is a silicified crocidolite or a blue asbestos which is a classic example of what is known as the pseudomorphus replacement. This means that the semi-precious stone that contains some oriented crocidolite fibers are replaced with silica, which largely contributed to its striking color combination. However, a lot of people often make the mistake of confusing tiger eye from hawk’s eye mainly because the former is hardly distinguishable from the latter. To clue you in, gemologists say that the Hawk’s eye is incompletely silicified, which gives off a bluish cast to it, while tiger eye stone are easily discernable with its red, black and yellow bands.


This peculiar color makes it an astounding piece of jewelry and is said to be the best gift for the 9th wedding anniversary of a couple. Most of tiger eye deposits can be extracted in South Africa and the very best stones are derived from the Griqualand West. According to some legends, during the ancient times, the Roman soldiers were seen wearing tiger eye pendants mainly for protection during battle and even believed to be all-seeing because of its striking appearance. According to metaphysics, this stone opens up the 3rd chakra or the solar plexus, which basically means it is considered to be a protection stone best used during travel as it effectively clears out all negative energies around the solar plexus area. There are also some claims that tiger eye stones has the ability to significantly deepen one’s perception and the clarity of one’s self, and therefore giving the wearer courage and inner knowledge. Tiger eye stones are also commonly used during meditation, usually placed on the navel or at the base of the torso to improve focus and keep the person properly grounded. Whether you have a strong belief in metaphysics or not, a tiger eye accessory is definitely an eye catching piece to invest in that can easily go with any wardrobe ensemble.

A tiger eye stone is especially stunning when set against silver, as it displays a wonderful contrast of warmth from the stone and the cool feature of the silver metal. A lot of people also love the combination of turquoise and tiger eye in many jewelry pieces because it provides a more interesting accessory for stylish women. Among the highly coveted stone pieces are pendants, necklaces, brooches and bracelets, and of course there is also the chakra energy collection of jewelries for people who want to take advantage of the stone’s healing properties.

In the jewelry trade today, tiger eye stones comes in a number of different shades, the most common are the golden brown ones. However, the highly coveted pieces are the blue/gray and the Red tiger Eye which is believed to bring good luck. Another equally beautiful variety is the tiger iron, which is the combination of the tiger eye, black hematite and the red jasper. A lot of people are actually drawn to this variety mainly because the ripples in the stone have the tendency to reflect a scenic view.

So if you are looking for an interesting piece of jewelry to add to your collection, then the tiger eye stone in sterling silver would certainly a wonderful addition that you can easily mix and match from casual to formal outfits.