Tiger iron is a striking banded rock from the Pilbara region of Western Australia, layering golden tiger's eye, silvery-black hematite and red jasper. Those layers come from banded iron formations laid down on ancient sea floors over two billion years ago, making tiger iron one of the oldest materials you can wear. Polished, it alternates chatoyant golden bands with metallic and brick-red stripes, a naturally sharp, graphic look that has made it a staple of men's jewellery.
Its quartz-rich layers sit around 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale, and the tightly bonded banding wears well in daily rings, cufflinks, beads and pendants. It is cut as cabochons, beads and flat tablets that line the stripes up neatly.
Clean it with warm, soapy water and dry it well, since prolonged soaking does the iron-rich layers no favours.
The hematite makes it noticeably heavy for its size, which is a handy authenticity clue in itself.
It literally contains tiger's eye as one of its layers, alongside hematite and red jasper.
