TIGER'S EYE quartz contains brown iron which produces its golden yellow colour. It is one of the chatoyant gemstones. Chatoyancy exhibits a changeable silky luster as light is reflected within the thin parallel fibrous bands. This effect is due to the fibrous structure of the material. Cut stones show the chatoyancy that resembles the eye of a tiger.
The most important deposit is in South Africa, though tiger's eye is also found in Western Australia, Burma (Myanmar), India and California.
Cultured pearls
Fossils
