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Tiger Eye Necklace
A tiger eye necklace brings the stone up close to the face, where its bands of gold and brown catch the light at every turn of the head. Most of the necklaces in this collection are strung from polished beads: single strands of tiger eye, strands that mix it with glossy black or metallic gray beads, and strands that end in a pendant, from a wire-wrapped crescent moon to a teardrop and a small figure seated in meditation.
How a tiger eye necklace is strung
Round beads are the classic way to wear the stone. Polished into a sphere, each bead lets its band of light, the shimmer known as chatoyancy, roll around it as the strand moves, and the color shifts from bead to bead between honey, amber and dark brown.
The Vintage Tiger Eye Necklace shows the traditional approach. Its large round beads are strung on brown cord with a small knot after every bead, a method long used for pearls: the knots stop the beads from rubbing together and keep them from scattering if the cord ever breaks. A silver-tone spring ring clasp closes it at the back.
Other strands set something between the stones. One threads tiny silver-tone beads between the tiger eye, another uses thin metallic discs, some single and some stacked, and several mix in porous, matte black beads and close with a toggle, a short bar passed through a ring. On one of these, silver-tone spacers flank the black beads, the toggle ring carries a Greek key border and a patterned silver-tone bead sits at the front.
Tiger eye with black and gray
Darker stones make the gold of tiger eye look brighter. The Obsidian and Tiger Eye Necklace is a strand of glossy black beads with a run of tiger eye along one section, offered with beads 6mm or 8mm across and in lengths from 45cm to 60cm. Obsidian is volcanic glass, so its black has a deep, mirror-like shine beside the silky gleam of the tiger eye. Another strand mixes tiger eye with metallic gray beads that shine almost like polished steel, with the same choice of bead sizes and lengths.
Crescents, teardrops and a seated figure
On the Tiger Eye Crescent Moon Necklace, a solid crescent of polished tiger eye hangs from a long strand of beads, with a tree of life in silver-tone wire wrapped over one side. Just above the pendant the strand changes color: pairs of red, orange, tiger eye, green, turquoise, blue and purple beads climb away from it, following the colors traditionally given to the seven chakras, from the root to the crown.
The Tiger Eyes Necklace hangs a polished teardrop wrapped in a wire tree with a twisted trunk, and closes at the back with a braided brown cord and a sliding knot. Another design ends in a silver-tone wire outline of a figure seated in meditation, filled with small chips of stone in bands of color from red at the base to violet at the head, with a short extender chain beside its clasp.
The Women Tiger Eye Necklace has a looser, more irregular look. Its beads are tumbled nuggets, each a slightly different shape, divided by ribbed silver-tone spacers and closed with a gold-tone toggle. The pendant is an oval tiger eye stone in an open silver-tone frame that sweeps around one side like a crescent, edged with a row of small clear stones.
Lengths and clasps
Where a necklace offers a choice of length, the options run from 45cm to 60cm: several designs come in 45cm or 50cm, and the obsidian and metallic gray strands go up to 60cm. A 45cm necklace usually rests around the collarbone, and each longer size lets the strand fall a little lower on the chest.
The clasps vary as much as the beads: toggles that fasten easily by feel, a small spring ring on the knotted strand, an extender chain that adds a little play, and a braided cord that slides open and shut, so that strand can sit longer or shorter with no metal clasp at all.
A stone with a reputation
In crystal lore, tiger eye is prized as a stone of confidence, clear thinking and protection, and a necklace keeps it close all day. Chakra teachings link its golden tones with the solar plexus, and it often appears beside the full run of chakra colors, as on the crescent moon strand. The beliefs behind all this, from old legends to the chakras the stone is said to touch, are set out in our article on what a tiger eye stone means.
Keeping the beads bright
Tiger eye is a quartz, close to 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, so the beads cope well with daily wear; on a beaded strand it is the cord, the knots and the clasp that take most of the strain. Step-by-step methods are in how to clean tiger eye stone, which also covers the salt, incense and moonlight rituals that crystal traditions use to cleanse and recharge the stone.
More tiger eye to wear with it
When a single stone appeals more than a full strand, our tiger eye pendant collection offers single pendants, from a crescent moon filled with tumbled chips to a dolphin and a small skeleton that each hold a round stone. For the wrist, a tiger eye bracelet repeats the beads of these necklaces on a smaller scale, often with an owl, a Buddha head or a tree of life charm at the front. Rings, cufflinks and the rest of the pieces set with the stone sit together in our wider tiger eye jewelry collection.
The stone, not the stripes
The name can mislead: tiger eye is a gemstone, and the necklaces on this page show the stone rather than the animal. Necklaces that picture the tiger itself are gathered in our tiger necklace collection, with snarling tiger heads cast in metal, cut-out tiger faces on fine chains, a tiger face set with clear stones and green eyes, and a round pendant where a tiger faces a dragon across a yin yang disc.
Quick answers about these necklaces
Which necklaces have a pendant?
The Tiger Eye Crescent Moon Necklace, the Tiger Eyes Necklace and the Women Tiger Eye Necklace each have one, as does the strand with the meditation figure. The rest are made of beads alone.
Can the bead size be chosen?
On some designs, yes. The Obsidian and Tiger Eye Necklace and the metallic gray strand come with 6mm or 8mm beads: the smaller size reads finer, the larger bolder.
Do any of the necklaces mix tiger eye with other stones?
Several do, with glossy black obsidian, porous black beads, metallic gray beads, and the colored beads that run up the chakra designs.