cat's eye tourmaline ring

[fel]

So I just purchased this on ebay. It was listed as just a cat's eye, but I assume it is a cat's eye tourmaline. The ring is silver, stamped 925 and Mexico. I am thinking if it is a tourmaline it is probably from Brazil. But I would love to know if any of you think it could be something else (i.e. not a tourmaline).

I am somewhat amazed how nice it is! Beautiful movement on the eye, and amazing milk and honey effect. To give a sense of scale, the stone is about 1.5 cm long. While it looks almost plasticy in the pictures, I would say it is IRL it seems very gem-like, translucent but not transparent. The eye sort of glows and in some lights there is a double line.

The back of the ring is sealed so I can't look at that.

Sorry only indoor shots this evening. More tomorrow.

Fel

 

[fel]

Picture outside. I still can't seem to capture just the single thin eye it shows most of the time.

 

[fel]

Here's one from side that sort of shows the line.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Sorry I don't have any knowledge on what type of gemstone your cat's eye is and hopefully someone with that knowledge will reply. But I like the ring and I love the shot of it with the succulents.

 

[fel]

Thanks! I am a garden maven and to be honest I take a lot more pictures of flowers than I do of gems.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Very cool ring but I don't think it is tourmaline. In cat's eye tourmaline, the hollow tubes that cause the cat's eye are usually much more visible, perpendicular to the eye. The eye is also very sharp, which is unusual in tourmaline.

 

[fel]

Could it be fiber optic glass? Any good way to tell? There is no way to see the back of the cab or to remove it from the bezel.

Other things I have tried: It is in inert to magnetism and it registers one bar on a thermal conductivity tester. One bar is the same as my garnets but alas, also the same as glass.

 

[fel]

Could it be fiber optic glass? Any good way to tell? There is no way to see the back of the cab or to remove it from the bezel.

Other things I have tried: It is in inert to magnetism and it registers one bar on a thermal conductivity tester. One bar is the same as my garnets but alas, also the same as glass.

 

[arkieb1]

Could it be fiber optic glass? Any good way to tell? There is no way to see the back of the cab or to remove it from the bezel.

That would be my first guess. I saw it when you first posted it and immediately thought synthetic. It has the too perfect "look" (colour, shape, size of the eye) of a synthetic stone.

 

[minousbijoux]

Could it be fiber optic glass? Any good way to tell? There is no way to see the back of the cab or to remove it from the bezel.

That would be my first guess. I saw it when you first posted it and immediately thought synthetic. It has the too perfect "look" (colour, shape, size of the eye) of a synthetic stone.

I have to admit that I thought the same...

 

[fel]

If anyone has any suggestions on how to tell if it is glass, please let me know. I did not pay very much for this ring. Even though I could return it under ebay policy (it was described in a message to me as having a "gem"), I am not sure I would bother. I actually don't wear big rings like this, so if it were a genuine stone I would convert it to a pendant. If it is not genuine, it would not be worth the cost of a conversion -- possibly it would be a gift for a friend who does like big rings. It is well made and a very comfortable shape.

One thought -- does anyone have a fiber optic cab, so they can show me what that looks like magnified?

btw: last time I got a big silver Mexican ring with a questionable stone (star sapphire), I did go to the expense of getting it evaluated by a gemologist. He said it was a real blue star sapphire, with weak asterism. However, later I realized that it was some sort of doublet with blue glass on the flat end to make the stone blue. Whether the weak star was really sapphire, or possibly quartz, I could not say. My point is that even paying for a local test with a gemologist does not seem to be definitive. With this possible tourmaline, the gemological review would certainly cost more than the ring itself.

Thanks!

Fel