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.

Oregon Sunstone

Oregon Sunstone

A copper-bearing labradorite feldspar from Oregon, famous for its range of natural colors and glittery aventurescent copper schiller.

gemstone
Uvite

Uvite

A calcium-magnesium tourmaline that forms in metamorphosed limestones, typically dark green to brown and often in well-formed crystals.

mineral
Goethite

Goethite

Goethite is a common brown iron oxyhydroxide, the main crystalline component of limonite and rust, with shimmering botryoidal forms.

mineral
Travertine

Travertine

A banded, porous limestone deposited by mineral springs, prized as a warm-toned natural building and tile stone.

sedimentary
Dumortierite

Dumortierite

A hard aluminum borosilicate famous for its rich denim-blue color, often forming dense fibrous masses or coloring quartz blue.

mineral
Parian Marble

Parian Marble

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

metamorphic
Blue-Green Tourmaline

Blue-Green Tourmaline

Elbaite tourmaline spanning the blue-to-green range, from sea-green to deep peacock hues, popular for its versatile color.

gemstone
Mint Green Tourmaline

Mint Green Tourmaline

A soft, refreshing mint-to-seafoam green elbaite tourmaline, lightly colored by iron and prized for clarity and a cool, airy hue.

gemstone
Bubblegum Tourmaline

Bubblegum Tourmaline

A bright, opaque-to-translucent bubblegum-pink elbaite tourmaline, a playful candy-pink variety popular in beads and cabochons.

gemstone

Kokchetavite

A rare hexagonal polymorph of potassium feldspar discovered as microscopic inclusions in ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks.

mineral
Rose Tourmaline

Rose Tourmaline

A soft to medium pink elbaite tourmaline in rose hues, colored by manganese and prized for romantic jewelry.

gemstone
Emerald Green Tourmaline

Emerald Green Tourmaline

A richly saturated green variety of elbaite tourmaline whose color rivals emerald, colored by trace iron, chromium, or vanadium.

gemstone
Lime Green Tourmaline

Lime Green Tourmaline

A bright, fresh lime to yellowish-green elbaite tourmaline (verdelite), colored by iron and trace manganese for a lively spring-green tone.

gemstone
Lavender Tourmaline

Lavender Tourmaline

A delicate pale purple elbaite tourmaline in soft lavender and lilac tones, colored by manganese.

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
Golden Feldspar

Golden Feldspar

A trade name for golden-yellow gem feldspars, including golden orthoclase, golden sunstone, and golden labradorite.

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
Spodumene

Spodumene

Spodumene is a lithium aluminum silicate that is both a major lithium ore and the source of gem kunzite and hiddenite.

gemstone
Hessonite Garnet

Hessonite Garnet

The cinnamon-to-honey colored variety of grossular garnet, prized in jewelry and revered as the gem 'gomed' in Vedic astrology.

gemstone

Cat's Eye Labradorite

A labradorite feldspar cut to show a moving band of light (chatoyancy), sometimes combined with labradorescent color flashes.

gemstone
Bytownite

Bytownite

A calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar between labradorite and anorthite, faceted as transparent golden-yellow gems sometimes sold as yellow labradorite.

gemstone
Plum Tourmaline

Plum Tourmaline

A purplish, plum-toned elbaite tourmaline colored by manganese, blending the red of rubellite with violet-blue undertones.

gemstone
Hyalophane

Hyalophane

A barium-bearing potassium feldspar intermediate between orthoclase and celsian, found in barium-rich metamorphic and ore deposits.

mineral
Sapphire

Sapphire

The gem variety of corundum in every color except red, most prized in velvety blue and exceptionally hard and durable.

gemstone