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.

Color-Change Tourmaline

Color-Change Tourmaline

A rare tourmaline that visibly changes color between daylight and incandescent light, similar to the alexandrite effect.

gemstone

Bekily Garnet

A rare color-change garnet from Bekily, Madagascar, shifting from bluish-green in daylight to purplish-red under warm light, including the famed blue garnets.

gemstone
Color Change Garnet

Color Change Garnet

A rare garnet that dramatically shifts color from greenish in daylight to reddish under lamplight, rivaling alexandrite.

gemstone
Angelite

Angelite

A soft pale-blue calcium sulfate, the anhydrous form of gypsum, prized as a gentle, calming tumbled stone.

mineral
Green Calcite

Green Calcite

A soft mint-to-apple-green variety of calcite, a common calcium carbonate mineral popular as soothing tumbled stones.

mineral
Indian Agate

Indian Agate

An affordable multicolored banded and mossy chalcedony from India, common in tumbled stones, beads, and meditation pieces.

gemstone
Jasper

Jasper

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

mineral

Unakite Jasper

An altered granite of pink feldspar, green epidote and quartz, mottled pink-and-green and popular as a tumbled and carving stone.

metamorphic
Blue Calcite

Blue Calcite

A soft, soothing powder-blue variety of calcite, a common calcium carbonate mineral often sold as gentle tumbled stones.

mineral
Sunstone

Sunstone

A feldspar gemstone that sparkles with metallic glints (aventurescence) caused by tiny reflective copper or hematite platelets.

gemstone
Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli

An intensely blue metamorphic rock of lazurite flecked with golden pyrite, prized for millennia as a gemstone and ultramarine pigment.

metamorphic
Rhodonite

Rhodonite

A rose-pink manganese silicate marbled with black veins, prized as a tough ornamental and occasionally faceted gemstone.

mineral
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
Andesine

Andesine

An intermediate plagioclase feldspar between albite and anorthite, marketed as a red to champagne gemstone, sometimes color-treated.

gemstone
Fairburn Agate

Fairburn Agate

The state gemstone of South Dakota, a rare fortification agate known for tight, holly-leaf concentric banding.

gemstone
Citrine

Citrine

The golden-yellow variety of quartz, ranging from pale lemon to deep madeira amber, often produced by heating amethyst.

gemstone
Thulite

Thulite

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

gemstone
Diamond

Diamond

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

gemstone
Aquamarine

Aquamarine

The serene blue-to-sea-green variety of beryl, aquamarine is a durable gemstone colored by trace iron and birthstone for March.

gemstone
Malachite

Malachite

A vivid green copper carbonate mineral famous for swirling concentric bands, used as an ore of copper and an ornamental gemstone.

mineral
Goshenite Crystal

Goshenite Crystal

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

crystal
Tourmaline

Tourmaline

A boron-rich silicate gemstone group famous for occurring in every color of the rainbow, sometimes several within a single crystal.

gemstone
Cranberry Tourmaline

Cranberry Tourmaline

A deep cranberry-red to purplish-pink variety of lithium-rich elbaite tourmaline, prized as a rich, saturated rubellite gemstone.

gemstone
Topaz

Topaz

A hard, brilliant fluorosilicate gemstone occurring in many colors, from precious golden imperial topaz to popular blue topaz.

gemstone