Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

Search and identify 1,000+ rocks, minerals, crystals, and gemstones — with properties, formation, colors, hardness, and how to tell them apart.

Jaspillite

A banded, metamorphosed iron formation in which bright red jasper alternates with silvery hematite or magnetite layers.

The colorless to milky-white variety of beryl, known mineralogically as goshenite and once used to imitate diamond and other gems.

Transparent, colorless beryl (goshenite), the pure form of the species valued for its clarity, hardness, and well-formed crystals.

Ancient chemically deposited rock of alternating iron-oxide and silica bands recording Earth's early oxygenation and a major iron ore source.

A transparent, optical-grade variety of calcite famous for strong double refraction, splitting images and light into two rays.

The pure colorless variety of beryl, valued as crystal specimens and as a brilliant alternative to clearer gemstones.

The pure golden-yellow gem variety of beryl, colored by iron and valued for its clarity, brilliance, and durability.

The vivid, pure yellow tourmaline marketed as canary, a rare manganese-rich variety from Zambia and Malawi.

The hardest known natural material, a crystalline form of pure carbon prized as the ultimate gemstone for its brilliance and fire.

An unusually pure, transparent-to-translucent obsidian with few inclusions; truly water-clear specimens are rare in nature.

A pure, translucent white marble from the Greek island of Paros, the preferred stone of ancient sculptors for its waxy glow.

The intensely glowing orange variety of spessartine garnet, prized for its pure 'Fanta-orange' fire and high brilliance.