What is Tiger Eye?
Tiger Eye (or tiger’s eye) gems are a form of quartz. They are easily recognizable by the golden colored band in the brownish gold gem. Since they are opaque, they reflect light. This gem is so named because it resembles the eye of a tiger! It has a hardness of 6 to 7, which is typical of a quartz. This makes is ideal for creating cabochons and beads for jewelry design.
I love working with this gem. Early on in my design career, I used this gem as part of my Sacred Spiral jewelry Collection. I created Pendants, rings and earrings using tiger eye as the focal point.
the image above gives you a wonderful overview of this gem.
What is Tiger IRON?
As the name suggests, this gem has many of the properties of tiger’s eye. the Golden bands are still present but not as prevelant. This gem also includes hematite, red jasper and iron ore. These three minerals add the rich red tones to the gem. I discovered this gem a couple of years ago when visiting a supplier booth during the Tucson Gem Show. I fell in love with it and purchased my first cabochons that very moment. Since then I have sourced more pieces to add to my growing gemstone collection. You can view my current designs here.
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