Tiger’s eye is a stone with many healing properties. It also has a high value due to its golden color. A high-quality Tiger’s Eye stone was selling for the same price as an equal weight of gold.
The price was much higher in the nineteenth century when they were considered rare gemstones. Learning how to tell if Tiger’s Eye is real or fake is crucial to avoiding scams is crucial. We have gathered four ways to help you identify the authentic Tiger’s Eye gemstones.
How to Tell If Tiger’s Eye Is Real or Fake?
It is hard to tell the difference between the counterfeit Tiger’s Eye crystals and the real authentic ones.
A beginner cannot do it without information about the physical features of the stone.
You will be surprised to know how many fake pieces are on the market after you learn how to tell if Tiger’s Eye is real or fake.
You should observe the features more than a few times to identify the counterfeit crystals.
We will make it easy for you to find the differences between real and fake Tiger’s Eye stones by giving you four ways.
Sellers sell the cheaper stones at a high price because they resemble the expensive stones.
There are no low-priced crystals that resemble the Tiger’s Eye.
The fake stones are purely synthetic in this case.
Some sellers make Tiger’s Eye with optic glass.
It is the only cheaper option to get more profits.
All other stones with a similar appearance are more expensive than the Tiger’s Eye.
It is better to start the identification process with the observable physical features.
1. Observe Tiger’s Eye Gemstone for the “Cat’s Eye” Effect
Some gemstones have light banding effects.
The light will concentrate at the center of the stone to give a bright line to the center.
This effect is known as chatoyancy.
The gemstone may look like the cat’s eyes when you put them in the light.
Some people also call it the cat’s eye effect.
You will observe the cat’s eye effects in the gemstones with a cabochon shape.
It is the most popular shape for gemstones after polishing.
The stone has a flat surface and a round surface in this shape.
As Tiger’s Eye is a Quartz crystal, the light will reflect in a specific way inside this gemstone to make a band at the center.
Counterfeit stones do not have the cat’s eyes effects.
It is easy to find out about the cat’s eyes effect by placing the Tiger’s Eye stone under the lamp.
You should set the lamp to a medium-light intensity.
You can hold the stone in your hand and move it slowly to observe the changes in the light band at the center.
The inner side of the stone should appear to be moving when you change its position.
Some sellers make a fake band on the optic glass to make it appear like the Tiger’s Eye.
The fake band will not move with the light when you change the stone’s position.
When the stone does not have a band that changes location with the light, the Tiger’s Eye stone is not authentic.
2. Be Sure to Inspect the Coloration Bands
Tiger’s Eye stones only occur in specific color bands.
Golden and brown bands are most common in the Tiger’s Eye stones.
There are some stones with a mild red color.
It is due to the iron impurities in the Tiger’s Eye stones.
You will not find an entire red-color crystal in this category.
A streak or patch of red color is an indication of the authentic Tiger’s Eye gemstone.
Some may tell you that they are selling rare Tiger’s Eye gemstone with red color.
You should not accept it because the red stones are made with the heat treatment method.
A stone with a blue-gray tone is also an authentic stone.
People call it the Hawk’s Eye.
It is not a synthetic stone if the grayish-blue streaks are mild.
You will not find blue streaks in this crystal often.
The blue color in the Tiger’s Eye has a more gray tone.
A bright blue Tiger’s Eye crystal does not occur naturally.
Sellers make them by dying the crystals.
You should not buy the bright red Tiger’s Eye stones if you want an authentic crystal.
You will also find it in the green color on the market.
It is unsuitable to buy the bright-green Tiger’s eye stones because they do not occur naturally.
Sellers inject green dyes to change the color of the stone as they want to sell it at a higher price.
The green bands also appear superficial in the colored Tiger’s Eye.
Authentic Tiger’s Eye crystals have a range of brown, yellow, and golden colors.
The color bands give a trench-like appearance to the stone.
You can also look for the signs of dye injection in the crystals to identify the fake ones.
A part of the stone may have a hole that the seller used to inject the green or blue dye.
Some Tiger’s Eye crystals show dark bands instead of the light-brown color.
It is possible to find the dark-colored bands in the natural Tiger’s eyes.
Some may also have black bands.
You will never find purple or blue colors in the Tiger’s Eye stones because their name changes in the market.
The stone with purple color bands is known as the Ox’s eyes.
The stone is known as the Hawk’s eyes when it has bands of blue color.
3. Look at Tiger Eye Gemstone’s Sleek Luster
Tiger’s Eye consists of Quartz crystals.
It has a high luster due to the silicon dioxide crystal composition.
You will get a silky appearance in the Tiger’s Eye with the surface luster that forces the light to go to the center of the stone.
When you place the stone between your eyes and the light source, you will see the light at the center of the stone.
This phenomenon is frequent with polished stone.
You should keep the luster quality as a second method to check the authenticity.
Fiberglass also has a high luster.
It is hard to distinguish the fiberglass and the Tiger’s Eye stone with luster parameters.
Fiberglass can give a silver tone when you put it under the light.
A silver shade indicates the stone is synthetic.
It is hard for a beginner to find the difference in the luster.
If you mix the authentic Tiger’s Eye stones with the fake ones, you will not find any difference in the surface luster.
It is better to look for the difference with the color-based parameters.
You can find the refractive index if you have a friend with the refractive index checking equipment.
It will confirm the crystal’s identity.
4. Do the Glass Check on Your Tiger’s Eye Gemstone
A glass check is an easy way to find the authenticity of the Tiger’s Eye stones.
This test work due to the differences between the hardness scores of the glass and the Tiger’s Eye stones.
Tiger’s Eye stones consist of Quartz crystals.
Quartz has a high hardness score.
It has a hardness score of 6.5 and above on the Moh hardness scale.
It means that Quartz will make a scratch on all the materials with a lower hardness score.
Glass has a lower hardness score than Quartz.
The stone made with fiberglass has a hardness score of five or less on the Moh hardness scale.
The fake stone will not make a scratch on the glass.
You can test the authenticity of the Tiger’s Eye stone with the glass test.
You can take a glass piece with you when you buy the Tiger’s Eye stone.
You can rub the stone on the glass piece to make a scratch.
It should make a scratch on the glass surface.
The glass can not make a scratch on the Tiger’s Eye stone.
If the glass can scratch the stone’s surface, it is a counterfeit stone.
It is better to ask for permission from the seller before you do the glass check.
Some sellers may not allow it because they’re selling fake crystals.
Authentic crystal sellers will not stop you from the test because they know about the durability and hardness score of the Tiger’s Eye.
To Summarize: How to Tell If Tiger’s Eye Is Real or Fake
Most experts will tell the difference between the real or fake Tiger’s Eye because they know how to find the difference.
A beginner cannot find the luster or color differences easily.
In summary, this is a quick overview of how to tell if Tiger’s Eye is real or fake.
- Tiger’s Eye has a yellow color with brown bands.
- The light will concentrate at the center of the Tiger’s Eye due to the cat’s eye effects.
- You can identify the authentic crystal with the color. Fake crystals can have a red or green color.
- Sellers use fiberglass to make fake crystals that can have the same luster as the original stones.
- A glass check is the best way to identify the authentic Tiger’s Eye stone.