Chatoyant Minerals

Chatoyant is an adjective describing a mineral with a shifting luster and an undulating band of white light. Chatoyant comes from the French chatoyer meaning "to shine like a cat's eye." A good example of chatoyance in minerals is Cat Eye Chrysoberyl and Tiger's Eye, which shift in both color and luster, creating a really lovely shining effect. 

This effect occurs in minerals with parallel inclusions, usually fibrous and needle-like (think rutile and hematite) running parallel across the gemstone. Think of silk thread, the fibrous threads line up parallel on the spool and greater a band of white light down the center. 

In the metaphysical world, a stone with chatoyance can be used as a protective agent. Anything that resembles an eye can be used as a talisman against maleficence and danger, and chatoyant gems are exceptionally protective. Charoite, Pietersite, Tiger's Eye, Seraphinite, and of course Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl.