Tiger's Eye (large stone - rare red color)

Item Description

The best Tiger's Eye in the world is found in South Africa. This material gets its name from the obvious resemblence to the black and gold stripes of a Tiger, along with chatoyant "Cat's Eye" effect. These gems are a form of Chalcedony which is included by fibrous needels of the Amphibole Riebeckite (var: "Crocidolite"). This particular gem is a gorgeous Tiger's Eye stone showing brilliant flashes of a rarely seen reddish-gold hue (typically the stripes are more of a yellow-gold color). When the stone is rotated in the light, it shows several "Eyes" that dance around. The gem has an "Oval Cabochon" cut and even though it's highly colorful, it is essentially opaque. The gem comes from the collection of Willard W. Wulff Sr. (1904-1998) of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a prominent figure and collector of Colorado minerals. Wulff was one of the founding members of the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society in 1936. You can read Willard's bio on the Mineralogical Record website here ( http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1528 ). Later in Wulff's life, he took an affinity to cutting cabochons, and this particular stone was in fact cut and polished by Wulff. There is a label from Wulff attached to the back of the stone. Enjoy.