Cat eye gem knowledge

Opal introduction

Cat'seye, also known as the Oriental Cat's Eye, is a rare and precious variety in jewelry. This kind of gemstone has a parallel distribution of "tubular" inclusions in the crystal, so after processing into a curved gemstone, it can concentrate on the light, and a band of light like a cat's eye appears in the spotlight. Under the illumination, the rotating cat's eye gem will open and close, resembling the cat's eyes, flexible and bright, hence the name. This optical effect is called the "cat eye effect."

The cat's eye refers to the gold emerald with cat's eye effect. Among all the gemstones, there are many gemstones with cat's eye effect, but in the national standard, only the golden emerald with cat's eye effect can be called cat's eye. Other gemstones with cat-eye effects must include the name of the gemstone before the word "cat's eye", such as aquamarine cat's eye, tourmaline cat's eye, and so on.

In the mineralogy, opal is a kind of chrysoberyl, belonging to the spinel family mineral, which is a bismuth-containing aluminum oxide with a chemical formula of BeAl2O4. The primary mineral crystals are often in the form of plates and short columns, belonging to the orthorhombic system. The crystal form is often short column or plate.

Opal has various colors, such as honey yellow, brown yellow, wine yellow, brown yellow, yellow green, yellow brown, gray green, etc. Among them, honey yellow is the most expensive, and its color is caused by gold emerald minerals. Contains fluoride ions. Opal is transparent to translucent, glass to grease gloss; refractive index 1.745-1.755, birefringence 0.008-0.010; dichroism is obvious, dispersion is 0.015, heterogeneous body; hardness 8-8.5, density 3.71-3.75 g/cubic cm. The opal stone is the most beautiful and the best quality in Sri Lanka. It is the most popular and the most expensive. The main producing areas of Golden Green Cat Eye are: Sri Lanka, India, Africa and other countries, of which the quality of Sri Lanka is the best.

Opal grading

Cat eye grading is based on weight, color, clarity, cut and eyeliner. According to industry consensus and routine practice, cat eyes can be divided into five levels: special, first, second, third and other cat eyes.

The special cat's eye is a rare cat's eye, and its quality is higher than that of the first-class cat's eye. Can be divided into special level, special level 2, special level 3. In addition to the excellent characteristics of the first-class cat's eye, the special cat's eye is superior to the eyeliner.

The first-class cat's eyeliner is white, and the special grade has both gold and silver eyeliner. The second grade is the golden eyeliner, the third grade is the silver eyeliner, and the special cat's eye has a rare blue light. Therefore, the number of special cat eyes is extremely rare, and even some experts in the industry rarely see it.

Level 1: The cat's eye has a uniform texture and its own color is light. The inner body is invisible to the naked eye and has a darkroom effect. The color is generally sunflower yellow, apple green (yellow-green), honey yellow, dark green, texture, and can contain a very small amount of impurities, but no cracks, translucent to transparent. In natural light, the eyeliner is concentrated, thin, sharp and strong, and two to three eyeliners open and close freely when moving horizontally.

Level 2: The cat's eye quality requirement is: the eyeliner may not be very clear under natural light, but it should be clear and bright under strong sunlight. There is no need to open two or three lines when moving, and other conditions are in line with the first grade quality.

Level 3: Cat eyes tend to have more cracks, but the eyeliner clarity and color conditions are the same as those of the second level.

Level 4: The eyeliner is often scattered, the texture is often uneven and the color is gray. In the concentrated glare, the clear and bright cat's eye is also rare.

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