Tiger Eye "flats" ground pieces, collection box with 1.2-1.5 kilos of natural Tiger Eye from South Africa.

Tiger's eye is a variety of quartz. The stone has a yellow-brown to brown color, is striped and opaque. It occurs in Africa, India, Mexico, California and Australia. Tiger's eye forms by silicification of black-blue asbestos fibers known as crocidolite, resulting in solid inclusions of hair-like crystals within the quartz. The gold-colored shine of the stone is caused by oxidation of the original crocidolite fibers, causing limonite fibers to appear. The stone is named for its light reflection that resembles a tiger's eye, an effect called chatoyeren or 'cat's eye effect'. The cat's eye effect is best achieved when the stone is cabochon cut. The color of the stone determines the name: red is known as Cat's Eye, blue as Falcon's Eye and yellow as Tiger's Eye (golden yellow, golden brown).