Tourmaline, corundum, spinel , scapolite and quartz can exhibit chatoyancy and form “cat’s eye” similar in appearance to cymophane. The jewelry industry designates these stones specific names as “quartz cat’s eyes”, or “ruby cat’s eyes” and only chrysoberyl can be simply referred to as “cat’s eye” with no other designation.

Gems lacking the silky inclusions required to produce the cat’s eye effect are usually faceted. An alexandrite cat’s eye is a chrysoberyl cat’s eye that changes color.

“Milk and honey” is a term commonly used to describe the color of the best cat’s eyes. The effect refers to the sharp milky ray of white light normally crossing the oval shaped cabochon as a center line along its length and overlying the honey colored background.

The honey color is considered to be top-grade by many gemologists but the lemon yellow colors are also popular and attractive. Cat’s eye forms only a small percentage of the overall production of chrysoberyl.

Cat’s eye became very popular by the end of the 19th century. Until that time, cat’s eye had been present in gem and mineral collections. The popularity and the value of the stone increased so much that in the early 20th century the prices could go up as high as $8000 for a cut stone.