The bull’s eye stone, like its sister the tiger eye stone, is a variety of microcrystalline quartz that is to say, it is considered as a type of chalcedony stone. Therefore, it is a gem that is composed of almost 100% silica plus traces of riebeckyte and crocidolite, which are the minerals responsible for its special appearance.
The characteristic of this stone are its brown-mahogany colors that appear elongated like fibers throughout the mineral. These fibers are the hydrothermal replacement of riebeckyte and crocidolite during their formation.
How is the bull’s eye stone formed?
The bull’s eye stone it comes from the slow crystallization of silica-rich fluids in the crust, which hydrothermally replace the fibrous crystals of riebeckite and crocidolite found in the rock spaces.
Riebeckyte and crocidolite are naturally blue colored asbestos, however, during the formation of the bull’s eye stone These minerals turn brown and mahogany in color as they are replaced by hematite, goethite, and limonite, which are iron oxides from the surrounding rocks.
Properties and characteristics of the mineral
The bull’s eye stone it is a tectosilicate and is a cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, therefore its chemical formula is SiO2. Naturally it occurs with brown, brown and mahogany colors arranged in an elongated manner within the mineral.
It’s a fairly resistant ore to wear because it has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale. Regarding its optical properties, it is typically translucent and has a pearly luster.
The fibrous texture responds to hydrothermal replacement on riebeckite and crocidolite.
| bull’s eye stone | Physical and chemical properties |
|---|---|
| CLUSTER | Silicates – tectosilicates, chalcedony |
| COMPOSITION | SiO2 |
| COLOR | brown-mahogany |
| CRYSTALLINE SYSTEM | hexagonal / trigonal |
| CRYSTAL HABIT | Fibrous |
| HARDNESS | 7 |
| FRACTURE | conchoidal |
| EXFOLIATION | null |
| BRIGHTNESS | Vitreous |
| STRIPE | White |
| TRANSPARENCY | Translucent |
| SPECIFIC WEIGHT | 2.7 |
Meaning of the bull’s eye stone
The bull’s eye stone or also known as bull’s eye stone it brings with it many beliefs, magical and spiritual properties. For example, it is said that brings professional success and also attracts longevity.
The natives of South America wore pendants with this stone in order to better communicate with the parallel world. This stone also symbolizes the last glimmer of hope when things get complicated.
Some benefits
- Said to encourage the development of courage and inner strength
- Develop our survival instinct
- It is a protective stone that repels negative energies from the environment.
- It is said to bring calm, relaxation and serenity.
Bull’s eye deposits
The occurrence of this gem is related to intense volcanic hydrothermal activity that crystallizes within extensive fractures in the rocks along with tiger’s eye quartz, cat’s eye stone and various varieties of chalcedony stone.
The best deposits or deposits are found in: South Africa, Australia, Myanmar, Brazil, China, the United States, India and Namibia.
Uses of the bull’s eye stone
The bull’s eye stone is considered an exotic and rare gem, which is why it is widely used in jewelry and handmade costume jewellery. It is basically manufactured rings, bracelets, chains. necklaces, cabochons, earrings and many more accessories.
Finally it is used as ornamental stone and precious gem of collection. Due to its rarity, mineral collectors pay good amounts of money to obtain an excellent sample of this mineral.