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GemStore team — written by the people who list and pack every stone.
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Tiger eye, sold in Pakistan as chashm-e-babri or simply tiger stone, is not an expensive gem, and that is exactly why people assume it is never faked. In fact it is copied often, mostly by glass made to imitate its moving band of light, and by ordinary stone dyed to look golden. There is also a second, quieter problem: tiger eye itself is sometimes passed off as a more valuable cat's eye (lehsunia), and the price follows the wrong name.
This guide explains what the imitations are, the checks you can do at home with your eyes and a loupe, where a laboratory is needed, which treatments are normal, and how to buy without being caught out. For the traditions and the choice of setting, read our earlier post on tiger eye's moving band and the beliefs around it; this one stays with authenticity.
What real tiger eye is
Tiger eye is a form of quartz. It began as a rock full of fine, parallel fibres of another mineral. Over time quartz replaced those fibres while keeping their shape, and iron oxides gave the golden-brown colour. Because the fibres run parallel, light reflects off them in a single bright line. When the stone is cut as a domed cabochon with the fibres lying flat, that line appears as a band across the top and rolls from side to side as you tilt it. This effect is called chatoyancy.
Three things follow from this, and every useful test is based on them:
- the band must move when the stone or the light moves;
- the fibres are natural, so they are slightly wavy and uneven, never perfectly regular;
- the stone is quartz, with the hardness and weight of quartz.
The common imitations
Fibre-optic glass
This is the imitation you are most likely to meet. Manufacturers fuse thousands of thin glass fibres into a block, colour it, and cut cabochons that show a strong, sharp band. It is often sold as "cat's eye" in many colours, but golden-brown versions are passed off as tiger eye. The band is usually brighter and more even than in natural stone, which is the first clue.
Dyed quartzite or agate
Plain quartzite, agate or chalcedony dyed brown or gold copies the colour but not the light. These stones look flat, with no rolling band, or a stripe that stays still when tilted.
Resin and plastic
Cheap beads and pendants are sometimes moulded resin with a printed or layered pattern. They are light, warm to the touch and soft.
Other genuine stones under the wrong name
Not every mislabel is a fake. Hawk's eye (blue-grey), red tiger eye and tiger iron are all real and related, but they are different products with different prices. Tiger iron, banded with red jasper and grey hematite, is covered in our tiger iron buying guide and stocked in the iron tiger eye collection.
Checks you can do at home
You need daylight or a single bulb, a 10x loupe if you have one, and a minute of patience. Use several checks together.
1. Tilt it under one light
Hold the stone under a single light source and rock it slowly. On natural tiger eye the band glides across the surface and changes in brightness. If nothing moves, or a stripe stays in one place, you are probably looking at dyed stone or a printed pattern.
2. Turn the stone on its side
This is the single most useful test. Look at the edge or the back of the cabochon with a loupe. Natural tiger eye shows fine fibres that wave, bend and vary in thickness, with colour shifting between golden and brown bands. Fibre-optic glass shows a perfectly regular pattern, often a tiny honeycomb or grid of identical cells, when seen end-on. Nature does not make anything that regular.
3. Look at the colour
Real tiger eye has zones of honey, gold and brown that change across the stone, sometimes with darker streaks. A stone that is one perfectly flat colour, or a bright colour that tiger eye does not naturally have, should make you ask about dye.
4. Look inside with the loupe
Round gas bubbles or swirl marks point to glass or resin. Natural tiger eye has no bubbles.
5. Temperature and weight
Quartz feels cool and warms slowly in the hand. Resin feels warm almost at once and is noticeably light. Glass can feel similar to quartz, so this test only rules out the cheapest copies.
A test to skip
Do not scratch a stone you are thinking of buying, or let a seller scratch it for you on glass. It proves little, since quartz and some glass will both mark a window, and it can chip the edge of a genuine cabochon.
Tiger eye and cat's eye (lehsunia): the mix-up that costs most
In Pakistan the word "cat's eye" is used loosely, and that causes real losses. True cat's eye, the lehsunia of Vedic astrology, is chrysoberyl. It is much harder, noticeably heavier for its size, and usually honey-yellow to greenish with a fine, sharp silvery line. It costs far more than tiger eye. Because tiger eye also shows a band, it is sometimes sold as lehsunia, either by mistake or on purpose.
Signs that a "lehsunia" is actually tiger eye or quartz cat's eye:
- a broad, silky band rather than a thin, sharp line;
- brown or strongly golden bands visible across the body;
- a large stone that feels light for its size;
- a price far below what chrysoberyl normally costs.
If an astrologer has asked you for lehsunia, buy it as chrysoberyl, ideally with a report; see our cat's eye collection and the lab-certified cat's eye page. If you simply like the look of a rolling band and want an affordable stone, tiger eye is a fine choice in its own right, sold under its own name.
Beads, bracelets and tasbih
Strung beads are where imitations turn up most often, because a buyer sees the strand as a whole and rarely checks each bead. Glass and resin beads are usually too uniform: every bead the same shade, the same band and the same size. Natural tiger eye beads vary from bead to bead, and some will show a weaker band than others because the fibres sit at a different angle in each one. Look at the drill holes too; a painted or coated bead often shows a lighter core or chipped colour at the hole. If you want a stone tasbih for daily use, our tasbih page lists the materials we offer.
What needs a laboratory
A lab is rarely worth paying for on an ordinary tiger eye, but it matters when:
- you are being sold a stone as chrysoberyl cat's eye and want to be sure it is not quartz;
- you want to know whether an unusual colour is natural, heated or dyed;
- a large or carved piece is priced well above normal tiger eye.
A gem lab can measure refractive index and specific gravity, which separate quartz from chrysoberyl and from glass straight away, and can look for dye with magnification. We can arrange independent lab testing on request; our authenticity page explains how.
Treatments: what is normal
Treatment is not fraud when it is disclosed. With tiger eye you will meet:
- Heating: gentle heat turns golden tiger eye red or reddish-brown. Most "red tiger eye" and "bull's eye" is made this way. It is stable and common.
- Dyeing: pink, green, blue and purple tiger eye are dyed. Colour may gather in cracks or fade over time.
- Bleaching: acids can lighten the colour to a pale honey.
- Stabilising: fractured rough is sometimes impregnated with resin before cutting.
Ask the seller which applies and get it written on the invoice. We state known treatments on every listing.
Buying tiger eye safely
- Ask for a photo or video of the exact stone. A short clip of it being tilted shows the band better than any still image.
- Buy it under its own name. Tiger eye, chashm-e-babri, hawk's eye or tiger iron, not lehsunia.
- Judge the cut. The band should sit across the centre and run the full width. A crooked or weak band means the fibres were not lined up when cutting.
- Ask about treatment. Especially on red or unusual colours.
- Pay where you can check first. With Cash on Delivery you can open the parcel, tilt the stone under a light and look at its side before handing over money.
Every stone in our tiger eye collection is photographed on its own. Examples include this 11.60 carat chashm-e-babri, a comfortable ring size, and this 28.65 carat tiger eye, large enough for a bold pendant. The planned guides to tiger eye price and how to wear tiger eye cover value and setting in more detail.
Looking after it once you know it is real
At about 7 on the Mohs scale tiger eye is sturdy enough for a daily ring. Clean it with lukewarm water, mild soap and a soft brush, keep it away from strong chemicals that can attack dyed or bleached stones, and store it apart from harder gems. A bezel setting protects the edge of the cabochon from chips.
We deliver anywhere in Pakistan, dispatch within one to two working days, and accept returns within seven days. Questions about a particular stone can go to WhatsApp on +92 308 887 3888.
Shop the stones: tiger eye.
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