CATS EYE OPAL

This is a green natural untreated stone from Brazil showing chatoyance [cats eye] effect.We have selected this piece as it has a strong cats eye effect.

Also called green opal as a trade name.

Hardness mohs scale 5.5 to 6.5 

Well polished

High domed

Set in silver stamped 925

The weight is for the stone and silver.

The size is for the main stone.

 Chatoyancy  or chatoyance, is an optical reflectance effect seen in certain gemstones Coined from the French “oeil de chat”, meaning “cat’s eye”, chatoyancy rises either from the fibrous structure of a material, as in tiger eye quartz, or from fibrous inclusions or cavities within the stone, as in cat’s eye chrysoberyl The effect can be likened to the sheen off a spool of silk: the luminous streak of reflected light is always perpendicular to the direction of the fibres. For a gemstone to show this effect best it must be cut cabochon, with the fibers or fibrous structures parallel to the base of the finished stone. Faceted stones are less likely to show the effect well.