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.

Smoky Quartz

Smoky Quartz

The smoky brown to gray variety of quartz, colored by natural irradiation, valued as both a gemstone and crystal specimen.

crystal
Bronze Sheen Obsidian

Bronze Sheen Obsidian

Black volcanic glass with a warm bronze or coppery sheen produced by light reflecting off aligned microscopic inclusions.

igneous
Topazolite Garnet

Topazolite Garnet

A rare yellow to golden variety of andradite garnet, the topaz-colored cousin of green demantoid, prized for high dispersion and brilliance.

gemstone
Honey Garnet

Honey Garnet

A warm golden-brown garnet named for its honey color, typically a hessonite grossular variety with a distinctive treacly internal texture.

gemstone
Sherry Tourmaline

Sherry Tourmaline

A warm sherry-brown to orange-brown tourmaline, usually magnesium-rich dravite, named for its rich fortified-wine color.

gemstone
Golden Beryl

Golden Beryl

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

gemstone
Sard

Sard

A brownish-red to deep brown variety of chalcedony, closely related to carnelian but darker, colored by iron oxides.

mineral
Lemon Tourmaline

Lemon Tourmaline

A bright lemon-to-canary yellow tourmaline colored by manganese, among the more cheerful and uncommon hues in the tourmaline family.

gemstone
Golden Emerald

Golden Emerald

A trade name occasionally used for golden-yellow beryl (golden beryl or heliodor), the iron-colored yellow variety of the emerald mineral.

gemstone
Mustard Jasper

Mustard Jasper

A warm mustard-to-ochre yellow jasper colored by iron, valued by lapidaries for its rich, earthy golden tone.

gemstone
Cognac Tourmaline

Cognac Tourmaline

A warm cognac-brown to reddish-brown tourmaline, typically magnesium-rich dravite, prized for its rich whisky-like color.

gemstone
Lemon Opal

Lemon Opal

A bright lemon-yellow opal, usually common opal, valued for its cheerful citrus color and translucent glow.

gemstone
Chocolate Opal

Chocolate Opal

Precious opal with a warm chocolate-brown body tone that makes its rainbow play-of-color glow, mainly from Ethiopia and Mexico.

gemstone
Dravite

Dravite

The magnesium-rich brown member of the tourmaline group, named for Austria's Drava River and prized for warm earthy tones.

mineral
Mahogany Obsidian

Mahogany Obsidian

A natural volcanic glass with rich brown and black mahogany-like swirls created by iron oxide inclusions.

igneous
Champagne Tourmaline

Champagne Tourmaline

A soft brown to golden-brown tourmaline with warm, neutral tones reminiscent of sparkling champagne.

gemstone
Lignite

Lignite

The lowest rank of coal, a soft brown carbon-rich rock formed from compacted peat, used mainly for electricity generation.

sedimentary
Heliodor

Heliodor

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

gemstone
Pyromorphite

Pyromorphite

A lead phosphate secondary mineral known for barrel-shaped green to yellow crystals formed in oxidized lead deposits.

mineral
Brookite

Brookite

An orthorhombic titanium dioxide polymorph forming tabular brown to black crystals with brilliant metallic-adamantine luster.

mineral
Albite

Albite

The sodium end-member of the plagioclase feldspar series, a common white rock-forming mineral and parent of peristerite moonstone.

mineral
Lace Obsidian

Lace Obsidian

Black volcanic glass laced with delicate web-like veins of contrasting color, formed by flow banding and fine crystallization.

igneous
Flame Obsidian

Flame Obsidian

Black volcanic glass that flashes flame-like bands of iridescent color when light strikes aligned nanoscale inclusions.

igneous
Carnotite

Carnotite

A bright yellow, radioactive potassium uranyl vanadate that is a major ore of both uranium and vanadium.

mineral