Rock Identifier
Pick the clues you can see — colour, Mohs hardness, lustre, transparency — and Gemdle returns the rocks that match. It’s a guided identifier: it gives you ranked possible matches to confirm by hand, not a one-shot answer (no photo can do that reliably).
How to identify a rock step by step
- Colour — note the dominant colour, but remember many rocks come in several.
- Lustre — glassy (vitreous), metallic, waxy, pearly or dull?
- Hardness — can a steel knife (≈5.5) scratch it? Does it scratch glass (≈5.5) or quartz (7)?
- Streak — rub it on unglazed porcelain; the powder colour is often more reliable than the stone’s.
- Transparency & habit — see-through or opaque, and what shape does it grow in?
Frequently asked questions
Can you identify a rock from a photo alone?
Not reliably. Geologists examine a specimen from several angles and test hardness, streak and density. A photo gets you a shortlist; Gemdle’s identifier uses the same observable clues to rank possibilities you then confirm in person.