The Tigers Eye Story

In 1866, a diamond was found in the North Western Territory of the Cape Province of South Africa. By 1870, there was a ‘diamond rush’ with thousands of people trying to reach the newly opened Kimberley Diamond Mines.

There were two “trading posts” in between the village of Prieska and Kimberley, namely Niekerkshoop and Grieqwa Town.

Travelers could rest themselves and their horses and find a bite to eat.

The area is similar to the “back side of the Moon”. No rain, no earth, no vegetation and very little drinking water. Just miles and miles of rock formation, containing up to 85% iron.

Every 5-6 or even 10 feet of heavy iron face, one can find a slim line of petrified asbestos, later to be known as TIGER’S EYE.

Nobody paid attention to that unusual rock formation, but one German traveler on his way back to Europe. He was not successful in the diamond trade and decided to ‘go back home’.

Stopping for a rest in Niekerkshoop, he took some small samples of the Tiger’s Eye formation and tried to sell them first in London and then in Idar Oberstein, a famous village perched on mountains above the Rhine River, famous already for stone cutting skills.

Due to the novelty, he obtained exorbitant prices in London, like seven grams of gold for equivalent of one gram of Tiger’s Eye.

Cutters in Idar Oberstein paid a bit less and advised the traveler to return to Africa, disregard the diamonds in Kimberley and bring Tiger’s Eye.

He did but while sailing South, another traveler reached Europe with several kilograms of Tiger’s Eye and the story that “there are whole mountains” of Tiger’s Eye. The price dropped to almost zero and nobody bothered to work that stone.

Until 1960 when Mr. Josef Soriano got involved in the world wide marketing of Tiger’s Eye and manufacturing of large quantities of jewelry pieces.