Description

Tiger’s eye is a chatoyant stone, meaning it shows a moving band of light across its surface as it turns, the same optical effect, on a warmer palette, that makes labradorite so prized in the Kauppi torque elsewhere in this collection. This brooch works in tiger’s eye’s warm brown and gold, a genuinely different mood from the same underlying design instinct.

It’s a smaller, quieter piece than the torque, but it carries exactly the same design DNA.

Why tiger’s eye specifically suited this design language. The stone’s chatoyancy depends on the cut catching the light at the right angle, which meant Kauppi’s structural, often slightly raised settings genuinely served the stone’s optical properties.

What to look for. The chatoyant band should move visibly as the brooch is tilted, a static-looking stripe suggests a lower-grade stone or a poor cut. This one shows the effect clearly.

This piece was part of a small, genuinely personal collection of mid-century and antique jewellery, gathered over years rather than acquired for resale. It has since sold.