Tiger's eyes, which is a semi-precious stone also known as African cat's eye or crocidolite cat's-eye possesses bands which resemble the eye of a tiger, and therefore its name. In the past, Roman soldiers wore these stones to serve as their protection when they go into battle. Because of its appearance, Tiger's Eye has been believed to be an 'all seeing ' stone.



It has rich yellow as well as golden brown stripes and has a fine golden luster after being polished. It is a crystalline quartz variety which is formed through the alteration of crocidolite which is an asbestos mineral. When it is viewed in some kind of reflected illumination, there is a band of light or a ripple, which resembles a cat's eye that follows the asbestos' original fibrous structure. It has a hardness of 7 on the Moh's scale. The largest deposits of this stone could be found in Burma, South Africa, Australia, the United States and India. The best stones are mined in Griqualand West.

Tiger's eye has a lot of spiritual and holistic properties. It has been used to gain confidence, courage and protection. It has a solar plexus stone, which helps by improving self-perception and self-clarity. It has also been known to be good for the conceptualization or vocalization of ideas and making visualizations and ideas a reality. It has been believed to be helpful in obtaining goals through taking direct action as well as through learning when to wait or act. It could also counteract any feelings of hypochondria and psychosomatic illnesses and is effective for improving the condition of asthma patients.