CATS EYE OPAL

 This is a stunning  cats eye opal from Tanzania -Africa

Hardness mohs scale 5.5 to 6.5 

Transulant

Natural

Weight 3.2 cts

size  10x 9x6 mm

Cats Eye Opal was  formed app  15 to 30 million years ago, during the tertiary period. Starting out as a liquid it seeped through sedimentary layers of earth, settling within impervious clays at a depth of 20 to 30 metres. Over the coarse of millions of years, the liquid slurry crystalized, becoming catseye opal.

Cats-Eye Opalite is a rare chatoyant form of Opal.  The attribute that gives this stone its popularity and name is the phenomena known as chatoyancy, also known in the gem trade as “the cat's eye effect”. The reason for this fascinating phenomenon is very fine inclusions within the stone. When a light source is directed on these inclusions it creates a bright strip that appears and runs perpendicular to the inclusions. This strip will then glide across the surface of the stone when turned over.  This natural gemstone is found only in Tanzania.  Opalite Cats Eye is best known for it's creamy honey color and strong cats-eye effect. Opalite Cats Eye can also occur in shades of yellow, red, white and black.

The physical structure of Opalite Cats Eye is unique. Tiny spheres of silicon dioxide form a pyramid shaped grid interspersed with water. Tiny natural faults in this grid cause the characteristic "play of color". The effect is similar to the rainbow colors displayed on a soap bubble, only much more dramatic.  The incredible play of color is exhibited by the gemstone due to the presence of small spheres in the silica gel that causes interference and refraction appearance. Silicon and oxygen chains are packed in the spheres and these are uneven in size and incoherent in concentration. These are set in a compact structures thus, when ray of light falls it dissects the light on its way through the stone resulting in the awesome color play. As per the size of the spheres within the structure, changeable colors of the gamut are diffracted. With the increase in the consistency of the spheres position, more intense and brilliant would be the color play.