Richly striped tigereye is a variety of quartz with a fine luster. These semiprecious beads come in your choice of their natural, unenhanced brown-gold state, or in heat-treated blue or red. We also offer strands of multicolor (mixed natural and heat-treated) tigereye. Also known as African cat's eye, crocidolite, and tiger's eye, the natural variety of these semiprecious beads are some of our best sellers! The gemstone contains oriented fibers of crocidolite (a mineral of the amphibole group) that have been replaced by silica. The fibers are twisted or crumpled instead of straight, reminiscent of sand and sunlight. Tigereye is also vitreous (hard, unbendable and glass-like) with strong chatoyance. The stone has previously been called "griqualandite," named after Griqualand West in Africa, where the best tigereye was once found.
