Rock Identifier

Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

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

Heliodor

Heliodor

The golden-yellow gem variety of beryl, colored by iron, prized for its bright sunshine hue and excellent durability.

gemstone
Pink Emerald

Pink Emerald

A trade name sometimes used for pink beryl (morganite), the manganese-colored rose-to-peach variety of the emerald mineral.

gemstone
Red Jasper

Red Jasper

An opaque, iron-rich variety of microcrystalline quartz known for its deep brick-red color and ancient history as a stone of strength and grounding.

gemstone
Rubellite

Rubellite

The red to raspberry-pink variety of tourmaline, prized for its vivid ruby-like color that holds under both daylight and artificial light.

gemstone
Milky Quartz

Milky Quartz

The most common variety of quartz, milky white from microscopic fluid and gas inclusions, forming massive veins worldwide.

crystal
Siberite

Siberite

A historic name for the red-violet to purplish lithium tourmaline first prized from Siberia, closely tied to the rubellite variety.

gemstone
Olive Tourmaline

Olive Tourmaline

An earthy olive to yellowish-green tourmaline, a muted green-brown gem variety colored by iron with subtle warm undertones.

gemstone
Andalusite

Andalusite

A pleochroic aluminum silicate that flashes green and reddish-brown from different angles, with a cross-marked variety called chiastolite.

mineral
Flint

Flint

A hard, dark variety of chert that knaps into razor-sharp edges and sparks against steel, central to Stone Age technology.

sedimentary

Peach Moonstone

A warm peach-to-apricot variety of moonstone feldspar showing a soft billowy sheen (adularescence) caused by internal light scattering.

gemstone
Snow Quartz

Snow Quartz

An opaque, snow-white variety of quartz whose milky color comes from countless tiny gas and fluid inclusions.

crystal

Kalahari Jasper

An African picture jasper from the Kalahari region with warm desert-toned banding evoking dunes and savanna.

mineral
Scenic Jasper

Scenic Jasper

A patterned jasper whose bands and inclusions create miniature landscapes of deserts, mountains, and skies within the stone.

mineral
Lavender Opal

Lavender Opal

A pastel purple variety of common opal, valued for its gentle lilac body color rather than any play-of-color.

gemstone
Pink Tourmaline

Pink Tourmaline

A pink to red gem variety of elbaite tourmaline, colored by manganese, ranging from soft pastel pink to vivid rubellite red.

gemstone

Prase

An old name for a dull leek-green variety of quartz or chalcedony colored by green mineral inclusions, historically called mother of emerald.

crystal
Tiger's Eye

Tiger's Eye

A golden-brown chatoyant quartz with a shimmering silky band of light, formed when quartz replaces fibrous crocidolite.

gemstone
Flame Agate

Flame Agate

A chalcedony agate with red, orange, and yellow plume or banding patterns that rise like dancing flames within the stone.

gemstone
Cat's Eye Tourmaline

Cat's Eye Tourmaline

Tourmaline displaying chatoyancy, a moving band of light caused by parallel tube-like inclusions, when cut as a cabochon.

gemstone

Aurora Obsidian

A trade name for rainbow-sheen obsidian whose aligned nanoparticles produce shifting aurora-like bands of color.

igneous

Double Flow Obsidian

Obsidian formed from two merged lava flows, producing a stone with two distinct bands of sheen or color.

igneous

Sunset Agate

A warmly colored chalcedony agate with reds, oranges, golds, and pinks that blend like the glowing bands of a sunset sky.

gemstone
Cat's Eye Green Tourmaline

Cat's Eye Green Tourmaline

Green tourmaline cut as a cabochon to show a sharp moving band of light (chatoyancy) caused by fine parallel inclusions.

gemstone
Cherry Creek Jasper

Cherry Creek Jasper

A landscape-patterned Chinese jasper prized for warm cherry-red, cream, and green bands resembling painted scenery.

mineral