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.

Spiderweb Jasper

A jasper crossed by fine dark veins forming a spiderweb-like network, often a brecciated stone cemented by darker matrix.

mineral

Cobra Jasper

A banded jasper with cream, tan, and brown layers resembling snakeskin, often sourced from Madagascar.

mineral

Imperial Jasper

A prized Mexican jasper known for pastel green, lavender, and cream orbicular patterns that take an exceptional polish.

mineral
Blue Jasper

Blue Jasper

An opaque blue variety of chalcedony jasper, less common than red or green forms, colored by mineral inclusions.

mineral
Green Jasper

Green Jasper

An opaque green variety of chalcedony quartz colored by iron and chlorite-group inclusions, prized as a durable carving and cabochon stone.

mineral
Bloodstone Jasper

Bloodstone Jasper

A dark green jasper-chalcedony speckled with red iron-oxide spots, classically known as bloodstone or heliotrope.

mineral
Black Jasper

Black Jasper

A dense, opaque black variety of microcrystalline quartz historically used as a touchstone for testing precious metals.

mineral

Noreena Jasper

A rare Australian jasper from the Pilbara with bold red, yellow, and black abstract patterns, prized by collectors.

mineral
Jasper

Jasper

An opaque, often colorfully patterned variety of chalcedony quartz, popular for tumbling, carving, and jewelry.

mineral

Sard

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

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
Blue Chalcedony

Blue Chalcedony

A translucent, soft blue variety of microcrystalline quartz whose color comes from light scattering through its fine structure.

mineral
Madagascar Jasper

Madagascar Jasper

A broad family of vividly patterned jaspers from Madagascar, including orbicular and scenic varieties prized for colorful, eye-catching designs.

gemstone
Agate

Agate

A banded variety of chalcedony quartz, famed for its colorful concentric layers and enormous range of patterns and colors.

mineral
Chrysoprase

Chrysoprase

A translucent apple-green chalcedony colored by nickel, the most prized green variety of the quartz family.

gemstone
Onyx

Onyx

A banded variety of chalcedony quartz, classically black or black-and-white, long favored for cameos and beads.

gemstone
Thulite

Thulite

A pink, manganese-rich variety of zoisite used as an ornamental gemstone, often mottled with white quartz and grey matrix.

gemstone
Scepter Quartz

Scepter Quartz

Quartz with a wider crystal 'cap' that grew over a narrower stem, forming a natural scepter or mushroom shape.

crystal
Elestial Quartz

Elestial Quartz

A quartz with a complex skeletal, layered surface of many terminations and etched recesses, also called skeletal or jacare quartz.

crystal
Brandberg Amethyst

Brandberg Amethyst

A prized Namibian quartz combining amethyst, smoky, and clear quartz in single crystals, often with phantoms and enhydros.

crystal
Needle Tourmaline

Needle Tourmaline

Fine acicular (needle-like) tourmaline crystals, often black schorl, frequently seen as slender inclusions within clear quartz.

mineral

Super Seven

A trade name for quartz containing a combination of seven minerals including amethyst, smoky quartz, and cacoxenite, prized by collectors.

crystal
Rutilated Quartz

Rutilated Quartz

Clear or smoky quartz threaded with golden to reddish needles of rutile, also poetically called Venus hair stone.

crystal
Cactus Quartz

Cactus Quartz

A South African quartz whose central crystal is coated in a cactus-like crust of tiny secondary points, also called spirit quartz.

crystal