Welcome to the Personal Collections of individuals who have enjoyed patterns in the core over time. The number of stones displayed for each name is just a small sample of their full collection. Because some varieties are incredibly abundant, this selection is curated to inspire you without overwhelming you. Visit each Individual’s Initials below to see the art they have created to bring these stones to life.
Click on a letter under each person opens the stone names.
KDG Collection
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The Cave of KDG
African Queen Jasper
Origin: Kalahari Desert, Namibia, Africa.
Description: A premium, highly solid variety of picture jasper that emerged in the lapidary trade in the late 1960s. It features scenic, swirling bands of desert tans, rich browns, and dark dendritic lines that naturally mimic abstract mountain horizons and desert landscapes.
Algae Agate (Fossil Stromatolite & Oncolite)
Origin: Sourced globally from classic volcanic regions, with the most historically famous rockhound deposits located in Montana.
Description: A collection of prehistoric, fossilized algal colonies fully replaced by agate and chert. This slide features two distinct structural varieties: the classic wavy-banded Stromatolite mats and the rare, circular-patterned Oncolite algal balls.
Amazonite
Origin: Historically sourced from the famous Pikes Peak region of Colorado and the Ural Mountains of Russia; modern material hails from Madagascar.
Description: Named after the Amazon River due to an 18th-century naming mix-up, this historic stone has been used in jewelry since the pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
Amethyst
Origin: Sourced globally from premier volcanic deposits, with the world’s most dominant commercial fields located in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and Artigas, Uruguay
Description: The ultimate purple gemstone, colored by deep geological time, trace iron, and natural radiation. Historically valued alongside diamonds and rubies as a stone of royalty, amethyst exhibits a majestic spectrum ranging from soft pastel lavender to the deeply saturated “Deep Siberian” violet.
Amethyst Sage Dendritic Agate
Origin: Bilk Creek Mountains, Denio, Nevada (Single-Source Locality)
Description: A highly collectible, rare variety of dendritic chalcedony found exclusively in a specialized volcanic ash flow deposit in northwestern Nevada. This premium material is celebrated for its striking “Grape Jelly” translucent purple backgrounds, heavily contrasted by branching, jet-black manganese inclusions that perfectly mimic wild desert sagebrush.
Apache Agate
Origin: Ejido El Apache, Chihuahua, Mexico
Description: A premier and rare collector’s agate distinguished by its magnificent, wind-blown veils of crimson red, fiery orange, and golden yellow. Apache Agate’s colors gracefully “float” suspended inside windows of ice-blue and clear chalcedony quartz.
Apache Gold
Origin: United Verde Mine, Jerome, Arizona
Description: Southwestern mining heritage sourced from the historic copper deposits of Jerome, Arizona. This heavy, dramatic stone features geometric pockets of brilliant, brassy-gold chalcopyrite locked inside a contrasting background of midnight-black schist, taking a spectacular metallic polish.
Apache Rhyolite
Origin: Mimbres Valley, Deming, Luna County, New Mexico
Description: Apache Rhyolite features a pastel background of lilac-pink, mauve, and cream swirls, dramatically broken up by branching black manganese dendrites. When polished, these patterns create breathtaking abstract scenes of sagebrush against a desert sky horizon.
Agua Nueva Agate
Origin: Agua Nueva Ranch, Chihuahua, Mexico
Description: A highly prized, classic Mexican fortification agate famously mined under dangerous conditions in the high desert of Chihuahua. This old-stock material is celebrated for its incredible structural diversity, seamlessly blending tight fortification bands of pastel lavender, pink, and gold with intricate tube eyes and suspended plumes of iron-red moss.
Arizona Picture Rock
Origin: Mogollon Rim, Arizona
Description: A premier variety of western landscape stone celebrated for naturally depicting scenic desert vistas. This collection beautifully displays two distinct geological phenomena: pristine, calm stratified horizons showing ancient seasonal ash layers, alongside dramatic, rare earthquake–swirled landscapes formed when prehistoric seismic forces churned the soft mineral mud before petrifaction.
Asteroid Jasper
Origin: Sourced primarily from Mexico and Madagascar, as well as select wind-weathered Gobi Desert deposits where natural “eye” agates exhibit cratered rinds.
Description: Asteroid Jasper, Astroite, or Chocolate Ocean Jasper is an orbicular chalcedony named for its cosmic appearance—featuring crater-like “eyes,” ringed planet patterns, and tiny sparkling druzy pockets embedded in a dark, earthy matrix.
Aventurine
Origin: Sourced primarily from the Karnataka region of India. Major global deposits for alternative color varieties are located in Brazil, Russia (the Ural Mountains), and Tanzania.
Description: A premium variety of quartz distinguished by its spectacular aventurescence—a glittering metallic shimmer that dances across the stone under light. This optical phenomenon occurs because light penetrates the translucent quartz matrix and reflects off thousands of tiny, mirror-like mineral platelets trapped within the stone. Its classic forest-green coloration is caused by dense flakes of chromium-rich Fuchsite mica, while rarer orange, red, and blue varieties are colored by trapped inclusions of Hematite, Goethite, or Dumortierite.
Azurite
Origin: Historically sourced from the legendary copper mines of Chessy-les-Mines, France.
Description: A highly coveted, heavy copper mineral celebrated for its breathtaking, ultra-vibrant deep azure-blue to midnight-violet coloration. It forms in the oxidized zones of copper ore deposits where carbonated waters react with native copper fluids over millennia.
Banded Calcite
Origin: Sourced globally from extensive sedimentary carbonate deposits, with the most famous historical and commercial lapidary localities situated in Mexico, Peru, Pakistan, and the Utah desert plains within the United States.
Description: A visually striking stone universally celebrated for its smooth, flowing ribbon patterns and layered color configurations. It forms over thousands of years in thermal spring environments, limestone caves, and deep underground fractures where mineral-rich water slowly and sequentially drips, depositing repeating sheets of calcium carbonate. Because of its alternating stripes of deep amber, cream, rust-red, and brown, it is widely known by the popular rockhound nickname “Bacon Onyx.”
Biggs Jasper
Origin: First discovered around 1960 in a creek bottom near Biggs Junction, Oregon, right along the Columbia River Gorge.
Description: Biggs Jasper has flowing, wavy bands of chocolate brown, tan, and cream that look like miniature canyons or sand dunes.
Binghamite
Origin: The stone was discovered in 1936 by a lapidarist named William Bingham. It is found exclusively on the Cuyuna Iron Range near Crosby in Crow Wing County, Minnesota.
Description: Binghamite is a hard rock composed of quartz and chalcedony that is packed with microscopic iron fibers. When light hits these fibers, it creates a bright, waving sheen across the surface.
Birdseye Rhyolite
Origin: The absolute finest, commercial-grade Birdseye Rhyolite is famously mined in a barren, vegetation-free valley within the Casas Grandes Municipality in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Description: It is an extrusive igneous rock born from highly explosive, silica-rich volcanic eruptions. As the molten lava flowed and cooled rapidly near the Earth’s surface, mineral-rich fluids crystallized outward in rhythmic, repeating layers from small points. These spherical mineral formations are called spherulites.
Blackskin Agate
Origin: The most famous commercial sources for authentic Blackskin Agate are the gravel beds and volcanic deposits in the Khambhat (Cambay) region of Gujarat, India, specifically around the Bud-Kotra area in Morbi. Exceptional rough nodes are also highly sought after from Montana.
Description: From the outside, the rough nodule looks like an ordinary, dark, or charred rock. However, once sliced open or polished, it reveals a stark, stunning contrast of translucent layers, geode crystals, or dendritic moss structures inside.
Bloodstone
Origin: The absolute finest, classic gem-grade Bloodstone is mined in the Deccan Traps region of India (specifically the Kathiawar Peninsula in Gujarat). Other notable commercial deposits are found in Madagascar, Brazil, Australia, China, and the western United States.
Description: It looks like a chunk of dark, mossy forest earth scattered with bright, contrasting crimson flecks. Because every stone has a completely random splatter pattern, no two pieces are ever identical.
Blue Onyx
Origin: The highest-quality, natural Blue Onyx is famously mined in Argentina, with other major commercial deposits located in Mexico, Brazil, and India.
Description: It looks like a watery, frozen windowpane, featuring straight, layered stripes of icy blue and milky white. Unlike agates, which have chaotic, swirling rings, onyx is defined by its clean, orderly parallel bands.
Blue Quartz
Origin: Exceptional natural deposits of Blue Quartz are actively mined across Brazil (specifically Minas Gerais) and Madagascar. Notable regional variants are also found in Spain, Colombia, and the United States.
Description: Looks like a frosty, cloudy block of ice tinted with frozen blue ink. Depending on how many internal mineral fibers are trapped inside, its clarity can range from a foggy semi-transparency to a completely solid opacity.
Bogwood
Origin: The young, wooden variety is famously dug up from the peat wetlands of Ireland, England, and Ukraine.
Description: It features swirled, flowing patterns of the original swamp algae, sediment, and petrified wood layers
Bolivianite
Origin: A multi-mineral combination is actively mined in the remote, high-altitude mountainous regions of Peru.
Description: It has a highly organic, marbled look that resembles a watercolor painting, showing distinct islands of purple floating in a pale green sea.
Botswana Agate
Origin: True to its name, this stone is found exclusively in southeastern Botswana, Africa, predominantly around the Bobonong district near the Zimbabwe border.
Description: From the outside, the raw nodules look like ordinary, humble river rocks. When sliced open, they reveal remarkably engineered, ultra-fine concentric bands that sometimes swirl into protective “eye” shapes.
Brazilian Agate
Origin: The absolute global epicenter for this stone is the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, particularly around the town of Soledade (known as Brazil’s “gemstone capital”).
Description: Sliced open, it showcases stunning, sharp, concentric rings that mimic the shape of the original bubble cavity. Many pieces are hollow geodes lined with a inner blanket of sparkling white or purple amethyst crystals.
Brecciated Jasper
Origin: Brecciated Jasper is found worldwide wherever historic earthquakes or volcanic shifts take place.
Description: It looks like a complex natural puzzle or patchwork. Rather than having smooth, rounded bands like an agate, it features sharp-edged, angular chunks of stone separated by branching veins of a contrasting color.
Bruneau Jasper
Origin: This legendary stone is found exclusively inside the sheer, vertical rock walls of the Bruneau River Canyon in Owyhee County, southwestern Idaho.
Description: When cut open, high-grade pieces display bold, repeating, concentric ring patterns that resemble overlapping “egg” or “orb” shapes. It has an incredibly tight, dense grain that lacks the porous or grainy patches found in normal jaspers.
Burro Creek Agate
Origin: The stone is located in a remote, rugged desert region approximately 60 miles northwest of Wickenburg, Arizona, along the year-round waters of Burro Creek in Mohave and Yavapai Counties.
Description: The most sought-after and famous variety of Burro Creek Agate features a striking lavender-gray to rich royal purple color. This vibrant purple material often emerges from a contrasting matrix of bright white or smoky-gray common opal.
Butterfly Agate Jasper
Origin: The absolute finest, commercial-grade deposits are mined in Mexico (particularly in regions like Nayarit). Select organic variations are also sourced out of Indonesia and parts of the United States.
Description: It features a beautiful, chaotic layout of sharp, angular rock shards webbed together by branching crystal lines. The abstract blending of flowing swirls, patches, and fine fractures creates an optical illusion resembling the texture of insect or butterfly wings.
Cacoxenite
Origin: The source for high-grade specimens is Minas Gerais, Brazil. Important mineralogical deposits are also located in Zambia, Madagascar, the Czech Republic, and the United States.
Description: From a distance, it looks like tiny clumps of gold straw, paintbrush tips, or miniature exploding fireworks trapped deep inside a clear crystal.
Calcite
Origin: Because it forms in so many environments, Calcite is found globally. Massive, world-class deposits are located in Mexico, Brazil, Iceland, China, Peru, and across the United States.
Description: It can form as massive, chunky blocks with a smooth, waxy texture, or grow into sharp, geometric crystal clusters. One of its most famous crystal shapes resembles a jagged tooth, earning it the nickname “Dogtooth Calcite.”
Calico Agate
Origin: The most widely recognized gem-grade material is mined near Chihuahua, Mexico and the volcanic beds of the rugged Calico Mountains near Barstow and Yermo in San Bernardino County, California.
Description: It features a complex, three-dimensional patchwork layout. It seamlessly blends solid sections of stone with deep windows of translucent agate, often showcasing tiny floating orbs or feather-like mineral plumes trapped just beneath the surface.
Camp Verde Agate
Origin: This agate is actively hand-collected and excavated from specific desert mining claims and washes near the town of Camp Verde in Yavapai County, central Arizona.
Description: Camp Verde is globally famous among mineralogists for its unique “pseudomorphs” (where one mineral dissolves and is replaced molecule-by-molecule by another, while keeping the original crystal shape).
Candy Stripe Dolomite
Origin: Candy Stripe is predominantly mined from Utah and Nevada in the United States, with significant historical deposits also sourced from Africa and northern Mexico.
Description: True to its name, it looks like a block of old-fashioned ribbon candy or sweet peppermint sticks. It is defined by its incredibly neat, level, and repeating structural lines that march completely straight across the face of the stone.
Carnelian (Drummond)
Origin: This specific lineage of carnelian is native to the Pacific Northwest, famously excavated from the historic Polly Drummond agate beds located in Oregon.
Description: Polly Drummond Carnelian is highly sought after for its exceptional internal depth and translucency. High-grade specimens feature a rare, mesmerizing internal structure that lapidary artists describe as looking like floating “cornflakes” or spidery webs trapped deep within a glassy body.
Cathedral Agate
Origin: This elite collector’s stone is native to the desert mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico. It was first discovered around 1975, bursting onto the lapidary scene alongside other famous regional favorites like Bird of Paradise Agate.
Description: Sliced open, the stone gets its majestic name because its internal patterns look remarkably like the stained-glass windows, pointed gothic arches, and vaulted ceilings of a grand cathedral.
Cave Creek Jasper
Origin: This material is found in the rugged, saguaro-filled desert mountains and washes surrounding the town of Cave Creek in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Description: While it can occur in blocky, massive configurations, Cave Creek Jasper is famous for its orbicular and structural varieties. The most prized specimens feature bold, bright-red bands, concentric geometric patterns, or sharp fragments locked in place.
Challis Agate
Origin: This material is native to central Idaho, hand-collected from weathering outcrops and remote ridge tops within the vast Challis Volcanic Group in Custer County (notably around Lime Creek, south of the town of Challis).
Description: Challis Agates are renowned for their incredible internal variety. Sliced open, they reveal a complex blend of sharply defined concentric fortification bands, level “waterline” gravity layers, and three-dimensional, feathery mineral columns.
Charoite
Origin: Charoite is found in only one location on the entire planet: a remote, frozen valley within the Murun Massif in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Siberia, Russia. It was first discovered in the 1940s but remained completely unknown to the Western world until it was formally described by geologists in 1978.
Description: Charoite does not grow in clear, blocky crystals. Instead, it grows as a tightly interlocked mass of fibrous, needle-like mineral crystals. This structure gives the stone a dramatic “woodgrain” or marbled swirl pattern. When polished, these packed fibers create beautiful, shimmering patches of chatoyancy.
Cherry Orchard
Origin: Genuine Cherry Orchard material is mined from volcanic formations in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Africa, with secondary gem-grade pockets also excavated out of Nigeria.
Description: It looks like a mossy forest floor peppered with fallen red berries, or a dense patch of wild orchard trees. It shares the exact same mineral makeup as classic Indian Bloodstone but features a much lighter, mistier green background.
Chinese Writing Stone
Origin: Despite its exotic trade name, the world’s most famous historic location for gem-grade material is actually Auburn, California, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Description: The stone features a stark, high-contrast, three-dimensional layout. The pale crystal rods intersect, overlap, and stack at sharp, geometric angles. When the stone is cut into flat slabs, these random lines perfectly mimic the look of inked brush-strokes or ancient ideograms.
Chocolate Calcite
Origin: The absolute global epicenter for high-quality, commercial-grade Chocolate Calcite is Balochistan, Pakistan. Smaller, decorative pockets are also mined across Mexico and the United States.
Description: It looks like a solid block of gourmet fudge or a chunk of dark chocolate. It naturally breaks along clean, flat planes (called rhombohedral cleavage), giving the raw chunks highly geometric, slanted block shapes.
Chrome Tremolite
Origin: The premier global source for exceptional, gem-grade Chrome Tremolite crystals is the famous D-Block Mine in the Merelani Hills of the Manyara Region, Tanzania.
Description: At first glance, a thick, sparkling crystal cluster can look so highly metallic and sharp that it is frequently mistaken for chrome tourmaline or emerald until its crystal shape is examined closely.
Chrysocolla
Origin: It is mined in copper-rich regions worldwide. Major commercial deposits are found in Arizona, Peru, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Ural Mountains in Russia.
Description: When polished into jewelry, it features an abstract, mottled landscape of swirling colors that looks remarkably like the Earth’s surface viewed from space. In its raw form, it frequently develops in rounded, grape-like bubbly clusters (botryoidal masses) or crust-like vein fillings.
Chrysoprase
Origin: Australia is the dominant global powerhouse, producing approximately 85% of the world’s finest supply—predominantly out of the Marlborough Creek District in Central Queensland. Other commercial pockets are found in Tanzania, Brazil, and the western United States.
Description: It looks like a smooth drop of frozen lime juice, neon mint jelly, or premium jade. Because its internal crystals are microscopically fine, the stone lacks any visible grain, giving it a uniform, cloud-free texture.
Citron Chrysoprase
Origin: The absolute global epicenter for this material is the Eastern Goldfields region around Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
Description: It has a milky, opaque presentation that mineralogists describe as looking like unglazed porcelain or smooth candy mints. It frequently forms as massive nodules ranging in size from an orange to a small vehicle.
Cockscomb Agate
Origin: Cockscomb Agate is famously mined out of the rich volcanic gemstone beds of Chihuahua, Mexico, with secondary deposits also hand-collected by rockhounds in the desert washes of Utah and California in the United States.
Description: True to its name, the raw stone looks exactly like the ruffled, brain-like top knot of a male chicken (rooster) or jagged rows of tiny shark teeth. It features an incredibly dramatic, three-dimensional texture built from sharp, interlocking ridges and points.
Copper In Brick
Origin: This unique material is native to the Keweenaw Peninsula (Copper Country) in Hubbell, Michigan, originating directly from the historic hand-fired smelting furnaces of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company built in 1885.
Description: Sliced open, the stone looks like a miniature geological fault line, showcasing a stark, brilliant contrast between industrial raw brick and highly reflective, gleaming metallic veins.
Copper Rhyolite
Origin: The absolute global epicenter for this striking material is the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, particularly around historic areas like Copper City.
Description: Sliced open or polished, it offers an incredible aesthetic contrast. It showcases jagged, branching networks or heavy pockets of bright, metallic copper snaking directly through a smooth, non-metallic volcanic stone.
Coprolite
Origin: Coprolite is found in ancient prehistoric floodplains worldwide. The absolute premier global source for colorful, polishable material is the Henry Mountains region in Utah, as well as the fossil-rich badlands of Wyoming, Montana, and Madagascar.
Description: Sliced open, high-quality coprolite looks like a beautiful, abstract piece of variegated jasper or moss agate. It features swirling, patchy, and multi-colored structural zones that completely mask its humble, organic origin.
Crazy Lace Agate
Origin: This legendary agate is found in only one place on Earth: the arid desert mountains of the state of Chihuahua in Northern Mexico (most notably around the region of Ojo Laguna).
Description: Affectionately known as the “Laughter Stone”, the stone looks like a wild, frozen explosion of lace fabric, paisley scarves, or complex topographic map lines. It seamlessly weaves together thin zig-zag bands, large swirls, and small eye-like orb formations.
Deming Agate
Origin: This agate is native to southwestern New Mexico, found in the volcanic hills surrounding the historic, rockhound-famous town of Deming in Luna County.
Description: Deming Agate is famous for its massive size, frequently forming extra-large nodules that weigh over four pounds. Sliced open, it showcases bold, geometric fortification bands wrapped around clear windowpanes or hollow geode centers.
Dinosaur Bone
Origin: Dinosaur Bone is the Four Corners region of the United States, predominantly across the high deserts of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico. Universally known in the lapidary world as Gembone
Description: Gembone looks like a vibrant, geometric work of abstract art. It is instantly recognized by its distinctive cell-like pattern, where the dark, branching original cell walls outline colorful, round interior pockets of translucent agate.
Dulcote Agate
Origin: This stone is native to the southwest of England, discovered within the red marly Triassic clays overlying the Carboniferous Limestone of Dulcote Hill and the Mendip Hills. Universally known in the United Kingdom by its endearing local nickname, the “Potato Stone”
Description: Uncut, the rough nodules are incredibly unassuming—round, bumpy, heavily weathered, and covered in a chalky, reddish-brown clay crust. Sliced in half, they burst into life, showcasing bright concentric growth rings or a central hollow cavity packed with lustrous terminated crystals.
Dumortierite
Origin: The absolute premier global epicenter for massive, gem-grade Dumortierite blocks is Madagascar. The incredibly rare, high-end crystals trapped inside clear quartz are famously mined in Bahia, Brazil.
Description: It is completely opaque and looks like a solid chunk of rugged, dark denim. However, when it grows as tiny mineral needles inside clear quartz, it forms beautiful, branching “sunbursts” or flower-like plumes that look like frozen blue coral trapped inside ice.
Enemy Mine Plume Agate
Origin: The stone was discovered in a small, hidden vein located near Marsing, Idaho, right along the Oregon-Idaho border.
Description: It features an exceptionally clear, water-like, or foggy chalcedony background that acts like an architectural window box. Suspended deep inside this glassy stone are massive, billowing, and highly dramatic three-dimensional mineral plumes that resemble frozen volcanic smoke, underwater kelp gardens, or blossoming flowers.
Epidote
Origin: Exceptional, world-class crystal clusters are mined in the high-altitude mountains of Pakistan (such as Balochistan), Peru, and France.
Description: Epidote can grow in two distinct styles: it can form as solid, opaque, fine-grained rock blocks, or it can sprout into long, slender, jet-like prismatic crystals that feature deep structural grooves (striations) running down their sides
Epidote-in-Quartz
Origin: Also known as Dream Quartz. The absolute finest, collector-grade specimens are mined in the alpine mineral veins of Balochistan, Pakistan. Secondary, highly sought-after deposits are located in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and Madagascar.
Description: It looks like a foggy block of ice filled with trapped sprigs of pine needles, moss, or tiny green splinters. The epidote needles can present as scattered individual spikes, dense parallel lines, or chaotic bundles that form a beautiful mossy phantom shape inside the quartz point.
Fancy Jasper
Origin: The absolute global powerhouse for high-grade, commercial Fancy Jasper is Maharashtra, India, with secondary, abundant deposits also mined across Brazil and South Africa.
Description: Fancy Jasper is a masterclass in chaotic, organic blending. It features a speckled and swirled patchwork where colors softly transition into one another like an artist’s paint palette.
Flame Agate
Origin: The absolute world standard for this material is mined in Villa Ahumada, Chihuahua, Mexico. Exceptional, high-contrast pieces are also hand-collected across the volcanic slopes of the Cady Mountains in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, California.
Description: Sliced open, the stone features a clear or smoky background window box that houses sharp, upward-branching plumes. The sharp, jagged points create a striking natural illusion of flickering fire or dancing campfire flames trapped inside glass.
Florida Coral
Origin: Florida Coral are mined along the Tampa Bay shoreline, the Econfina River, and the Withlacoochee River in northern and central Florida.
Description: It features a spectacular, geometric honeycomb or starburst pattern. Every single circular “flower” pattern on the stone is the perfectly preserved cross-section of a single coral polyp’s skeletal chamber.
Fluorite Agate
Origin: Fluorite Agate are imported out of Brazil, Madagascar, and India, with secondary collector-grade veins also mapped in China and Mexico.
Description: It typically showcases the orderly, fine parallel bands of translucent agate seamlessly transitions into the blocky, color-zoned, and geometric landscape of crystal fluorite.
Graveyard Plume Agate
Origin: This legendary stone is native to the Pacific Northwest, found exclusively in a remote, high-desert canyon area known as Graveyard Point in Malheur County, Oregon.
Description: The exceptionally clear, water-like or foggy chalcedony background acts like a miniature window box, making the dense mineral plumes look like they are floating in mid-air.
Hematoid Quartz
Origin: The absolute global powerhouse for high-grade, large Hematoid Quartz crystals is Minas Gerais, Brazil, with secondary, world-class deposits actively mined across Madagascar.
Description: It looks like a frozen block of crystal ice hosting trapped flickering flames, streaks of lightning, or tiny explosions of red paint. The iron is trapped inside the stone, giving it an incredible optical depth.
Honey Onyx
Origin: The world’s finest, commercial-grade Honey Onyx is heavily quarried across Mexico, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan.
Description: It looks like a solid block of frozen, swirling honey, caramel, or liquid amber. It is defined by its smooth parallel bands, wavy lines, and a high degree of transparency.
Horse Canyon Agate
Origin: This stone is native to California, famously mined from the historic Horse Canyon Agate Beds located in the rugged Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County, California.
Description: Horse Canyon material is famous for its incredible glass-like clarity and “open” structure. Sliced open or polished, the exceptionally clear body mimics a miniature sheet of window ice holding a perfectly preserved, floating botanical landscape or a delicate spiderweb.
Howardite
Origin: Howardite is native to the United States, mined from highly specific, remote volcanic desert beds in Northern Nevada.
Description: The stone looks like a vibrant, chaotic painting or a stained-glass window. It features a heavily layered, brecciated, or interwoven banding pattern that can shift direction dramatically every few millimeters.
Idocrase
Origin: Jeffrey Mine (Asbestos, Quebec, Canada). Mount Vesuvius & Italian Alps. California, USA (Siskiyou & Fresno Counties). Pakistan & Afghanistan.
Description: Idocrase (officially recognized by mineralogists as Vesuvianite) is a complex silicate mineral prized for its lustrous, prismatic green-to-brown crystals and jade-like massive varieties. First described near Mount Vesuvius in Italy, it is a favorite among gemstone faceters, mineral collectors, and lapidary carvers.
Imperial Jasper
Origin: Imperial Jasper is native to central Mexico, mined exclusively along a rugged, heavily vegetated, six-kilometer stretch of canyons located near the border of Jalisco and Zacatecas.
Description: Imperial Jasper looks like a delicate watercolor painting. Sliced open, it showcases a dense patchwork of perfectly symmetrical circular eyes, parallel streamline bands, and web-like fractures floating across a smooth background.
Jade
Origin: Nephrite Jade is heavily mined in British Columbia (Canada), New Zealand, Taiwan, Russia, and western China.
Jadeite Jade is historically sourced for intense green “Imperial Jadeite” in Myanmar (Burma). Smaller, high-contrast deposits are also found in Guatemala and Japan.
Description: Jade is famous for being almost unbreakable. While a diamond is harder, Jade has an interlocking, felt-like crystal structure that acts like a steel mesh. If you hit a piece of raw jade with a hammer, the hammer will often bounce right off without shattering the stone.
Jaspelite
Origin: Jaspelite is mined at the Lake Superior Iron Range of North America, predominantly found across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Huge geological deposits are also heavily mined across Western Australia, Ukraine, and Brazil.
Description: It looks like a striking, zebra-striped piece of industrial art. It features a heavily layered layout of perfectly parallel, straight, or intensely warped and folded bands that record the massive tectonic craton collisions of early Earth.
Kentucky Agate
Origin: It is found in a small, 250-square-mile tract located within the scenic Knobs region of east-central Kentucky. It is primarily hand-collected along the rivers, gravel bars, and creek beds of Estill, Powell, Jackson, Madison, and Rockcastle counties.
Description: From the outside, the rough nodules look like ordinary, bumpy, and unremarkable gray or tan river stones. Sliced open, they reveal sharp, dramatic concentric bands, zig-zag fortification lines, and central hallows lined with sparkling quartz crystals.
Labradorite
Origin: The absolute global epicenter for high-quality, vibrant commercial-grade Labradorite is Madagascar.
Description: The stone looks like a relatively plain, dark charcoal-gray or smoky-black rock. However, the moment you tilt or rotate the stone in your hand, it suddenly bursts to life with an intense, internal metallic flash.
Laguna Agate
Origin: This legendary gemstone is found exclusively in a remote, mountainous desert region of Chihuahua, Mexico.
Description: Laguna Agate is an absolute visual masterpiece. It features tightly wound, razor-sharp concentric bands wrapped around water-clear windows or central caves lined with glittering quartz druzy crystals.
Lake Superior Beach Stones
Origin: Beachcombing stretches a span from the North Shore of Minnesota and across the remote beaches of the Keweenaw Peninsula and Pictured Rocks in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Description: On a dry afternoon, the stones can look surprisingly muted, dusty, and ordinary due to a thin, chalky coating left behind by lake water minerals. However, the moment they are dropped in water or hit by a wave, they instantly pop into vivid color, revealing hidden bands, sparkles, and deep iron reds.
Lake Superior Agate
Origin: True to its name, these agates occur natively along the sprawling gravel shores and glacial till plains surrounding Lake Superior.
Description: The Lake Superior variant is famous for its rich, warm colors. “This color scheme is caused by the oxidation of iron. Iron leached from rocks provided the pigment that gives the gemstone its beautiful array of color.”
Lapis Lazuli
Origin: The absolute gold standard for Lapis Lazuli is the Sar-e-Sang mining district in the remote Badakhshan Province of northeastern Afghanistan.
Description: High-grade Lapis Lazuli looks exactly like a clear, star-filled night sky. It features a smooth, completely opaque royal-blue canvas decorated with brilliant golden constellations.
Lapis Nevada
Origin: This unique material is native to the United States, mined from a single, highly isolated deposit located in the rugged Yerington District of Lyon County, Nevada.
Description: Despite its popular trade name, it is geologically not true lapis lazuli at all, but a highly unique, multi-mineral rock mixture. It features a beautifully chaotic, mottled layout where colors softly swirl and patch together with zero uniform lines.
Larvikite
Origin: True to its name, this exclusive stone is native to Norway, found within a highly limited 150-square-kilometer region known as the Larvik Batholith in the Oslo Rift.
Description: Resting unpolished, it resembles a coarse, dark-gray, granular volcanic block. Once sliced and polished, it transforms completely, showcasing a cosmic landscape where large, dark, geometric feldspar crystals act like individual mirrors that flash steel-blue from beneath the surface.
Leopardskin Jasper
Origin: The absolute global powerhouse for high-grade, commercial Leopardskin Jasper is Chihuahua, Mexico, with secondary, abundant deposits also mined across Peru and Brazil.
Description: Sliced open or polished, it features a beautifully chaotic, leopard-spotted landscape. It is defined by its crowded clusters of small, circular orb rings and rosettes framed by branching, dark web-like lines.
Llanolite
Origin: Llanolite or Llanoite is found exclusively in Llano County, Texas, just north of the town of Llano.
Description: It features a dense, dark background matrix heavily peppered with thousands of tiny, geometric, and sharply angular crystal squares and rods.
Lysite Agate
Origin: This elusive stone is native to the high desert badlands of central Wyoming, found exclusively on and around the rugged slopes of Lysite Mountain in Fremont County.
Description: It often mimics a wild winter storm, seamlessly weaving together delicate, plume-like moss strands with dense, nested stalactite formations and wavy, lace-like fortification lines.
Magnesite
Origin: Arizona, United States. Austria & Greece. China & Australia.
Description: Magnesite is a magnesium carbonate mineral belonging to the calcite mineral group. In the gem and lapidary world, it is best known for its chalk-white to porcelain-like appearance, crisp matrix webbing, and frequent use in southwestern-style jewelry.
Malachite
Origin: The absolute global powerhouse for high-grade, beautifully banded modern Malachite is the Katanga copper belt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Description: It features a dense, highly detailed landscape of wavy bands, concentric circular eyes, and sweeping stripes that softly transition across the face of the stone.
Marcasite
Origin: Dover & Folkestone, UK. Illinois, USA. Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
Description: Marcasite is a metallic iron sulfide mineral closely related to pyrite. Known for its pale bronze color and distinctive “cockscomb” crystal formations, it holds a unique place in mineralogy—and a famous twist in antique jewelry history.
Mariposite
Origin: Named after Mariposa County, California along the famous Mother Lode belt. Because gold-bearing hydrothermal quartz veins formed in these same altered zones, 19th-century miners treated mariposite as a primary “guide rock” when prospecting for native gold.
Description: Mariposite is a striking chromium-bearing metamorphic rock famous for its vibrant apple-green ribbons swirled through a crisp white or light gray quartz and dolomite matrix. Deeply tied to the California Gold Rush, it is both a favorite lapidary material and a legendary indicator stone for gold prospectors.
Missouri Lace Agate
Origin: This material is found in the old mining districts of east-central Missouri, particularly around Tiff in Washington County.
Description: It displays tightly packed, wavy, or zig-zag parallel bands. The alternating layers of red and white led to its nickname, “Bacon Agate”.
Moctezuma Agate
Origin: This legendary stone is native to northern Mexico, discovered in an isolated desert region approximately 15 miles east of Estación Moctezuma in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Description: It looks like a delicate watercolor painting enclosed in glass. It features razor-thin concentric fortification rings wrapped around central pockets that often host tiny bushy moss or plume-like inclusions.
Montana Agate
Origin: The absolute epicenter for beachcombing premium material spans the gravel bars between the towns of Billings and Sidney, Montana.
Description: Montana Agate is world-famous for its striking “picture” or “scenic” qualities. Mineral-rich waters wicked into microscopic canals inside the clear silica gel before it fully hardened. This process created incredibly crisp, tree-like branch structures (dendrites) that form natural illusions of forests, mountain horizons, shorelines, or flocks of birds floating inside ice.
Mook Jasper – Mookaite
Origin: Mookaite is found in only one location on the entire planet: outcropping along Mooka Creek on the historic Mooka Station, Western Australia.
Description: Mookaite looks like a block of gourmet block cheese, melted wax, or blocks of smooth porcelain pottery. It features an abstract layout of sweeping bands, irregular patchy clouds, and high-contrast blocky zones.
Moss Agate
Origin: The absolute global powerhouse for high-grade commercial Moss Agate is India, followed closely by Madagascar. Massive, world-class deposits are also actively hand-collected by rockhounds across Brazil, Uruguay, and along the river beds of the western United States.
Description: Sliced open or polished, it looks like a miniature, three-dimensional terrarium or a dense patch of forest moss trapped inside a solid shard of river ice. Because the surrounding quartz is transparent, it creates a striking optical depth, making the mineral tendrils look like they are floating in mid-air.
Mozarkite
Origin: Found primarily in west-central Missouri—most notably around Benton County and south of the Missouri River near the Lake of the Ozarks.
Description: Rough specimens look like chalky, weathered boulders on the outside; cutting or tumbling exposes rich, opaque bands and cloud-like patterns inside.
Obsidian Gold
Origin: Major sources include volcanic regions in Mexico (particularly Jalisco), the western United States (Oregon and California), Iceland, and Japan.
Description: The shimmering effect—known optically as a Schiller effect—is caused by microscopic gas bubbles trapped within the lava as it flowed and stretched while cooling. These tiny, oriented micro-pockets align along the flow lines of the glass, catching and reflecting light back to the viewer like a million tiny mirrors.
Obsidian Mahogany
Origin: Found in regions with historic volcanic activity, with prominent deposits in Oregon and California (notably Glass Mountain), as well as Mexico, Japan, and Ecuador.
Description: The “Mahogany” Color Source: The rich terracotta and reddish-brown patches are caused by micro-inclusions of hematite or magnetite (iron oxides) that oxidized and concentrated within specific layers of the lava flow before it solidified.
Obsidian Rainbow
Origin: Premier sources include Jalisco, Mexico (especially near La Lobera) and northern California (Davis Creek in Modoc County), along with deposits in Oregon.
Description: The iridescence is caused by thin-film interference. As the lava flowed, microscopic nanoparticles—primarily magnetite nanocrystals or tiny water-vapor micro-inclusions—aligned in ultra-thin parallel layers along the flow planes. Light passing into the glass reflects off these micro-layers, splitting white light into vibrant rainbow hues.
Obsidian Silver
Origin: Prominent deposits are found in Mexico (especially Jalisco), as well as volcanic regions in Oregon, California, Armenia, and Japan.
Description: Silver Sheen Obsidian (often simply called Silver Obsidian) is a sleek, striking variety of volcanic glass recognized for its glowing, moonlight-like shimmer. Under ambient light, it looks like a dark charcoal or jet-black stone, but direct light reveals a brilliant silvery-white metallic flash dancing across its surface.
Obsidian Snowflake
Origin: Plentiful in regions with past volcanic activity, including Utah (notably near Milford), Oregon, California, Iceland, and Mexico.
Description: Snowflake Obsidian is one of the most recognizable varieties of volcanic glass, famous for its deep black surface dotted with crisp, white or light-gray radial patches that look remarkably like delicate snowflakes or frost patterns.
Ocean Jasper
Origin: Ocean Jasper is found in only one place on Earth: along the remote northwest coast of Madagascar (specifically near the village of Marovato in the Analalava district).
Description: Ocean Jasper (a trade name for orbicular chalcedony) is one of the most vibrant and sought-after minerals in the lapidary world. Famous for its concentric “bullseye” orbs, wavy banding, and vast color variety, no two pieces ever look identical.
Ocean Wave Jasper
Origin: It is harvested from the exact same mineral region in northwestern Madagascar (specifically around Kabamby and Marovato in the Sofia region) that produces Ocean Jasper.
Description: Ocean Wave Jasper (often sold simply as Ocean Wave stone) is a variety of banded chalcedony closely related to Ocean Jasper. Instead of the tight circular “orbs” found in classic Ocean Jasper, Ocean Wave Jasper is distinguished by sweeping, fluid, wave-like layers that resemble cresting ocean currents or coastal tides.
Ohio Flint
Origin: The most famous and high-grade deposit is Flint Ridge, a 16-mile-long geological vein located in eastern Ohio (spanning Licking and Muskingum counties).
Description: Ohio Flint is a gem-grade variety of chalcedony renowned for its remarkable spectrum of vibrant colors, high lustre, and rich historical importance. It is officially designated as the state gemstone of Ohio.
Oolite
Origin: Bedford, Indiana, USA. Central Pennsylvania, USA. Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA.
Description: Oolite (from the Greek ōion, meaning “egg”) is a unique sedimentary rock composed almost entirely of ooids—tiny, spherical, concentrically layered grains that closely resemble fish roe or miniature pearls.
Owyhee Picture Jasper
Origin: Sourced exclusively from the remote Owyhee Mountains region along the border of eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho (near the Owyhee River basin and Owyhee Reservoir).
Description: Owyhee Picture Jasper is one of the most famous picture jaspers in the world, renowned for its uncanny resemblance to painted desert landscapes, complete with rolling hills, desert sands, and muted blue skies.
Palomino Agate
Origin: Primary deposits are located in the American West, particularly in eastern Oregon (around the Owyhee Canyonlands region) and Nevada.
Description: Named after the palomino horse due to its golden, tan, and flaxen-white coloration. It also shares its name with prominent collecting grounds, such as Palomino Creek in Oregon and Palomino Valley in Nevada.
Parrot Wing Chrysocolla
Origin: The finest specimens come from copper mining regions in Mexico (particularly Chihuahua and Sonora) and the southwestern United States (notably Arizona).
Description: Rather than a single mineral, Parrot Wing is a composite rock. It is typically a mixture of chrysocolla (bright cyan/turquoise), malachite (deep green), and jasper or chalcedony (red, brown, or tan quartz matrix), often accompanied by trace amounts of cuprite (red) or azurite (deep blue).
Pastelite
Origin: The most famous and sought-after deposits are found around Burro Creek in western Arizona (Mohave County), as well as scattered locations in the Mojave Desert region of California and parts of Nevada.
Description: Pastelite (often called Pastelite Jasper or Burro Creek Pastelite) is a smooth, fine-grained variety of chert or jasper prized by rockhounds and lapidary artists for its soft, chalky pastel hues, ranging from delicate lavenders and soft pinks to butter-yellows and muted greens.
Peristerite
Origin: The most famous gem-grade deposits are in Canada (particularly Ontario around Bancroft and Hybla, as well as Quebec). It is also found in Russia (where a similar variety is traded as Belomorite), Madagascar, and parts of the United States.
Description: Peristerite is an iridescent, gem-quality variety of plagioclase feldspar often referred to as “Canadian Moonstone.” It is celebrated for its ethereal, glowing light play, which displays delicate blue, pastel-gold, or violet shimmers across a translucent host rock. Named from the ancient Greek word peristera, meaning “pigeon” or “dove”—an allusion to the shimmering, iridescent feathers found around a pigeon’s neck.
Petoskey Stone
Origin: Found along shoreline beaches, gravel pits, and sand dunes around the Little Traverse Bay area of Northern Michigan (especially around Petoskey, Charlevoix, and Alpena).
Description: Petoskey Stone is a unique fossil rock composed of petrified colonial coral (Hexagonaria percarinata). Beloved for its eye-catching, six-sided “sunburst” patterns, it holds a famous spot in American paleontology as the official state stone of Michigan.
Petrified Palm Root
Origin: Exceptional specimens come from Indonesia (particularly Java and Sumatra), Madagascar, and the Gulf Coast region of the United States (Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi), as well as parts of Utah and Wyoming.
Description: Petrified Palm Root (also known as Silicified Palm Root) is a striking fossil rock formed from the dense root system of ancient palm trees. Celebrated for its intricate, spotted patterns, it is a favorite among lapidary artists for cutting high-contrast cabochons and decorative carvings.
Petrified Wood-Arizona
Origin: Sourced primarily from the Chinle Formation in northeastern Arizona (around Holbrook and Navajo County). While collecting inside Petrified Forest National Park is strictly illegal, high-grade material is legally quarried from surrounding private ranches.
Description: Arizona Petrified Wood (often called Rainbow Wood) is world-famous for its kaleidoscopic colors, dense chalcedony structure, and incredible preservation. Recognized as the official state fossil of Arizona, these massive petrified logs are widely considered some of the most spectacular fossilized plant remains on Earth.
Petrified Wood-Nevada
Origin: Sourced from Virgin Valley in northwestern Nevada (Humboldt County), as well as the Black Rock Desert and surrounding basin-and-range fault valleys.
Description: Nevada Petrified Wood—most famously represented by the world-renowned specimens from Virgin Valley—is celebrated for a remarkable geological rarity: organic tree tissue that was replaced over millions of years by brilliant precious opal rather than standard quartz.
Petrified Wood-Oklahoma
Origin: Sourced from the Woodford Formation near Ada, the gravel deposits of the Red River valley, McCurtain County in southeastern Oklahoma, and the Mesozoic badlands around Black Mesa in the far western Panhandle.
Description: Oklahoma Petrified Wood is a rich, earth-toned fossilized wood celebrated for its dense silicification, distinct grain retention, and deep historical tie to North America’s ancient prehistoric forests.
Petrified Wood-Oregon
Origin: Hampton Butte, Holley Wood, Ochoco Mountains, Oregon.
Description: Oregon Petrified Wood is widely regarded as some of the most diverse and lapidary-rich fossilized wood in North America. Recognized for its exceptional agate and jasper replacements, it holds a place of honor as the official state rock of Oregon.
Petrified Wood-Utah
Origin: Famous sites include Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, the Circle Cliffs, the San Rafael Swell, and the Henry Mountains region in southern Utah.
Description: Utah Petrified Wood is famous for producing massive fossilized logs and brilliant agatized specimens embedded within the vibrant red rock country of the American Southwest.
Petrified Wood-Washington
Origin: Sourced heavily from central Washington near Vantage and the Columbia River basin. The area—now protected within Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park—is one of the most diverse petrified forests in the world, featuring over 50 fossilized tree species, including ginkgo, elm, oak, maple, sweetgum, spruce, and redwood.
Description: Washington Petrified Wood is celebrated globally for its remarkable botanical diversity—most notably preserving ancient, rare specimens of fossilized Ginkgo biloba trees. Recognized for its historical and scientific importance, it holds a place of honor as the official state gem of Washington.
Petrified Wood-Wyoming
Origin: Sourced heavily from the famous Blue Forest near Farson and Eden Valley in Sweetwater County (southwestern Wyoming), as well as the Wiggins Formation near the Absaroka Range in northern Wyoming.
Description: Wyoming Petrified Wood is world-renowned for its distinct “algae-wrapped” structure, where fossilized dark wood grain is encased in bands of translucent blue-gray chalcedony and sparkling quartz.
Picture Jasper
Origin: The Pacific Northwest—particularly the Owyhee region along the Oregon-Idaho border—is world-famous for producing elite picture jaspers.
Description: Picture Jasper (also called Scenic Jasper or Landscape Jasper) is an overarching category of opaque microcrystalline quartz.
Pigeon Blood Agate
Origin: Sourced primarily from eastern Utah (most famous near Cisco and Thompson Springs in Grand County).
Description: Pigeon Blood Agate is a striking variety of plume agate celebrated for its intense, vivid crimson or ruby-red inclusions suspended within translucent, glass-like chalcedony.
Polka Dot Agate
Origin: Mined almost exclusively from a single famous locality in central Oregon: the Polka Dot Agate Mine near Ashwood in Jefferson County (north of Madras).
Description: Polka Dot Agate is a charming and highly recognizable variety of chalcedony celebrated for its distinct, floating circular spots set against a translucent, cloud-like matrix.
Pony Butte Agate
Origin: Sourced from the Pony Butte bed located in Jefferson County, Central Oregon.
Description: Pony Butte Agate is a world-famous variety of agate-filled volcanic nodules. It is prized by collectors for its dramatic contrast, featuring a dark, smoky agate core with golden moss inclusions encased inside a brick-red rhyolite shell.
Poppy Jasper
Origin: The world’s premier and most iconic source is Morgan Hill, California.
Description: Poppy Jasper (most famously known as Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper) is a rare, vibrant variety of orbicular jasper prized for its distinctive, flower-like “orbs” or spots that resemble blooming red poppies.
Porphyry
Origin: Porphyry is not tied to a single unique mineral element; it is simply the result of a universal recipe: magma cooling slowly underground, then cooling quickly near the surface. It is found globally.
Description: Porphyry (pronounced POOR-fuh-ree) is an igneous rock defined by its distinctive two-toned texture: large, distinct mineral crystals suspended within a smooth, fine-grained background matrix. Its name comes from the ancient Greek word for “purple,” reflecting its rich historical association with royalty and imperial power.
Prairie Agate
Origin: Because millions of years of erosion broke down the soft surrounding host rock, Prairie Agates are frequently picked up directly off the ground in prairie gravel beds, dry creek channels, and badland washouts.
Description: Prairie Agate is a tough, brightly colored agate variety native to the Great Plains of North America. Recognized for its warm, autumnal color tones and sharp fortification banding, it holds a place of honor as the official state gem of Nebraska.
Prase
Origin: Exceptional crystal specimens of hedenbergite-included Prase come from Serifos Island, Greece, as well as the island of Elba, Italy, the Ural Mountains in Russia, Morocco, and parts of the southwestern United States.
Description: Prase (pronounced PRAYS) is an ancient term for a dull, leek-green variety of quartz or chalcedony. Celebrated since antiquity for its earthy olive hues, it owes its characteristic color to dense, microscopic inclusions of green minerals trapped inside the quartz structure.
Prehnite
Origin: Mali is famous for producing vivid green Prehnite masses intergrown with dark green epidote crystals. Australia has gem-grade golden-yellow and bright apple-green material.
Description: Prehnite (pronounced PRAY-nite) is a luminous, pale apple-green mineral celebrated for its pearly sheen and soft, translucent glow. It holds a special place in gem history as the first mineral ever named after a person.
Pudding Stone
Origin: Ice Age glaciers scraped across original bedrock deposits in Ontario, Canada, pushing loose erratics south. Today, rockhounds find polished pudding stones along beach shores, gravel pits, and riverbanks across Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and the Great Lakes basin.
Description: Pudding Stone (or Puddingstone) is a striking conglomerate rock composed of distinct, rounded pebbles—most famously bright red jasper, dark chert, and black basalt—permanently cemented together inside a pale, hard quartzite matrix.
Purple Agate
Origin: Holly Blue Agate (Oregon, USA). Grape Agate (Sulawesi, Indonesia). Mexican & Moroccan Agates. Turkish Purple Agate.
Description: Purple Agate is a striking variety of banded chalcedony prized for its royal violet, plum, and lavender shades. While naturally occurring purple agates are among the rarest and most sought-after in the lapidary world, dyed varieties are also widely seen in commercial jewelry and decor.
Purple Lace Agate
Origin: Rich purple and magenta lace patterns alongside classic tan and white layers are from Chihuahua, Mexico. Banded purple chalcedony and delicate lace agates with translucent lavender layers are from Indonesia & Brazil.
Description: Purple Lace Agate is a captivating variety of microcrystalline quartz celebrated for its intricate, swirled fortification patterns and rich palette of royal violet, lavender, plum, and white.
Purple Lace Lepidolite
Origin: High-quality specimens are sourced primarily from Madagascar, Brazil (Minas Gerais), Russia (Ural Mountains), and the United States (such as San Diego County, California and the Black Hills of South Dakota).
Description: Purple Lace Lepidolite is a stunning variety of lithium-rich mica celebrated for its shimmering lavender-to-violet scales interwoven with delicate, swirled veins of white quartz or cleavelandite albite.
Quantum Quattro
Origin: Mined almost exclusively in Namibia (most famously in the Kunene / Kaokoveld region of southwestern Africa).
Description: Quantum Quattro (also known as Quantum Quattro Silica) is a striking, highly sought-after copper-bearing mineral composite celebrated for combining five distinct blue and green copper minerals naturally encased inside a hard silica quartz matrix.
Rainforest Jasper
Origin: Mined almost exclusively in Queensland, Australia (most famously around the Mount Hay area near Rockhampton).
Description: Rainforest Jasper (trade name for Australian Rainforest Rhyolite) is a distinctive volcanic rock celebrated for its moss-green background patterned with colorful, circular orbicular spots and pockets filled with agate, quartz, and chalcedony.
Redskin Agate
Origin: Sourced primarily from volcanic regions in the American Southwest—most famously in parts of Arizona.
Description: Redskin Agate is a distinctive nodular agate prized by rockhounds for its bright, brick-red exterior casing (“skin”) that contrasts dramatically with a cool, translucent agate core inside.
Regency Rose Plume Agate
Origin: Mined from a small 2-to-3 acre zone on the Beverly Marie Claim in Malheur County, eastern Oregon (near Homedale, Idaho).
Description: Regency Rose Plume Agate is one of the most celebrated varieties of plume agate in North America. Originating from the Graveyard Point mining district near the Oregon–Idaho border, it is famed for its dense, feathery mineral plumes floating in translucent chalcedony.
Rhodochrosite
Origin: Colorado, USA (Sweet Home Mine): Famous for producing the world’s finest, gem-quality red rhombohedrons. Catamarca, Argentina (Capillitas Mine): The premier source for banded stalactitic rhodochrosite. South Africa (N’Chwaning Mines): Renowned for producing deep crimson, scalenohedral crystal clusters.
Description: Rhodochrosite (pronounced roh-duh-KROH-site) is a magnificent manganese carbonate mineral celebrated for its vibrant raspberry-pink to rose-red hues and dramatic, alternating white zig-zag bands.
Rhodonite
Origin: Russia (Ural Mountains): Historical source for massive carving-grade material. Australia (Broken Hill): Famous among mineral collectors for producing extremely rare, transparent, gem-grade ruby-red crystals.
Description: Rhodonite (pronounced ROH-duh-nite) is a manganese inosilicate mineral famous for its rich rose-pink to deep red color, crisscrossed by dramatic, web-like black veins of manganese oxide.
Rhyolite
Origin: Found globally wherever continental volcanoes have erupted high-silica lava.
Description: Rhyolite (pronounced RYE-uh-lite) is a silica-rich, extrusive igneous rock. It is essentially the volcanic, fine-grained equivalent of granite, formed when thick, viscous felsic magma cools rapidly at or near Earth’s surface.
Rio Grande Agate
Origin: Found in gravel bars, dry wash beds, and ancient river terraces along the Rio Grande basin in West and South Texas and across the border in Coahuila and Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Description: Rio Grande Agate is a vibrant, hard-wearing variety of banded chalcedony prized by rockhounds across the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. Famous for its fiery warm colors and naturally smooth exterior, it is named for the river system that weathered, transported, and concentrated these nodules across desert gravel bars for millions of years.
Rocky Butte Jasper
Origin: Mined exclusively in eastern Oregon, USA—specifically from the Rocky Butte area in the Owyhee region of Malheur County (near the Idaho border).
Description: Rocky Butte Jasper is one of the world’s premier varieties of “picture jasper,” highly prized by collectors and lapidaries for its breathtaking, painted-landscape patterns that look like desert canyons, rolling hills, and stormy horizons.
Rosetta Stone
Origin: Mined primarily in Chihuahua, Mexico, this material is a distinctive regional variety of Crazy Lace Agate.
Description: In lapidary and mineral collecting, Rosetta Stone (more commonly called Rosetta Jasper or Crazy Lace Rosetta Stone) refers to a swirled, multi-colored variety of jasper and agate.
Ruby In Zoisite
Origin: Tanzania remains the world’s primary source for high-grade decorative Anyolite, though minor deposits have also been identified in India and Zambia.
Description: Ruby in Zoisite (also known by its mineralogical trade name Anyolite) is a striking metamorphic rock featuring vivid magenta-red ruby crystals embedded inside a forest-green zoisite matrix, accented by specks of dark, blackish-green amphibole.
Rutilated Quartz
Origin: Brazil (Bahia and Minas Gerais): The world’s premier producer of gem-grade golden and star rutilated quartz. Madagascar: Sourced for exceptionally clear, gemmy crystals filled with thick copper and gold needles.
Description: Rutilated Quartz (often known poetically as Venus Hair Stone or Angel Hair Quartz) is a captivating variety of macrocrystalline quartz featuring delicate, needle-like inclusions of titanium dioxide suspended inside clear or smoky crystal.
Sagenite Agate
Origin: California, USA: World-famous for “Nipomo Sagenite” (golden goethite needles in gray-blue agate) and Mojave Desert sagenites. Oregon & Idaho, USA: Famous deposits in Graveyard Point (plume/sagenite tubes) and Owyhee region. Mexico (Chihuahua): Produces brilliant orange, yellow, and red sagenitic sprays inside nodular agates.
Description: Sagenite Agate (or Sagenitic Agate) is a prized inclusion-rich variety of chalcedony distinguished by delicate, needle-like sprays, sunbursts, or net-like mineral inclusions suspended inside translucent or clear agate.
Saint John’s Flower Agate
Origin: Discovered near St. Johns in Apache County, Arizona.
Description: St. John’s Flower Agate is an exceptionally rare, old-stock material from northeastern Arizona, prized for its vivid, flower-like plume inclusions suspended in translucent agate.
Salmon Spar
Origin: Both primary forms of “Salmon Spar”—calcite and feldspar—are found globally across every major continent.
Description: Salmon Spar is a traditional miner’s and lapidary term used for crystalline minerals that split along clean cleavage planes and exhibit a warm, peachy-pink to salmon-orange color.
Sante Fe Jasper
Origin: Mined primarily in Sonora, Mexico (in the Sierra Madre mountains).
Description: Santa Fe Jasper (most widely known in the gem world as Porcelain Jasper, Exotica Jasper, or Sci-Fi Jasper) is a prized variety of brecciated microcrystalline quartz celebrated for its pastel colors, swirled patterns, and ultra-smooth, porcelain-like ceramic finish when polished.
Scenic Jasper
Origin: Oregon & Idaho, USA is home to world-famous varieties. They are also mined in South Africa (Kalahari Picture Jasper), Madagascar, and Mexico.
Description: Scenic Jasper is an umbrella term for opaque, microcrystalline quartz varieties that display striking, natural patterns resembling desert sand dunes, rolling hills, mountain skylines, and stormy horizons.
Schalenblende
Origin: Found in historic lead-zinc mining districts across Europe. The world’s premier commercial source is the Olkusz mining district in Silesia, Poland.
Description: Schalenblende (derived from the German words for “shell ore”) is a striking, rare sulfide mineral composite prized by collectors for its dramatic, concentric bands of metallic gray, brassy gold, and earthy cream-colored layers.
Shattuckite
Origin: Bisbee, Arizona, USA is the historical type locality where the world’s first specimens were documented. Kaokoveld Region, Namibia: Renowned for producing massive, high-grade blue material.
Description: Shattuckite is a rare, vibrant secondary copper silicate mineral famous among collectors for its intense royal blue to deep navy coloration.
Siam Siding Chapenite
Origin: Sourced from the Siam Siding / Fort Irwin area near Barstow in San Bernardino County, California.
Description: A highly collectible brecciated jasper-agate from the Mojave Desert. It is celebrated for its sharp, mosaic-like fragments of colorful jasper “healed” together by translucent agate and quartz veins.
Snowball Agate
Origin: Northern Mexico (Chihuahua): The premier classic source, found near Villa Ahumada, also parts of Utah, Oregon, and the Mojave Desert in California, USA.
Description: Snowball Agate (or Snowball Nodule) is a whimsical, highly collectible variety of nodular agate named for its fluffy, white orbicular inclusions suspended inside translucent chalcedony—as well as the chalky, snowball-like outer rind that disguises the gem inside.
Sodalite
Origin: Bancroft, Ontario (Canada): Home to the famous “Princess Sodalite Mine.” Greenland (Ilimaussaq Complex): World-renowned for rare, highly fluorescent, and tenebrescent sodalites.
Description: Sodalite is a rich, royal-blue feldspathoid mineral prized for its deep cobalt shades, which are typically marbled with contrasting white veins and patches of calcite.
Spectrolite
Origin: Geologically, true Spectrolite originates exclusively from the Ylämaa region of Finland.
Description: Spectrolite is a rare, high-grade gemological variety of labradorite famous for displaying a complete, intense spectrum of iridescent colors across a dark, jet-black base matrix.
Stone Canyon Jasper
Origin: Mined from the Stone Canyon area near Parkfield in San Luis Obispo County, California.
Description: Stone Canyon Jasper is one of North America’s premier “old-stock” brecciated agates. Originating from California, it is celebrated worldwide by lapidary artists and rockhounds for its vivid, high-contrast angular fragments glued together by translucent agate and chalcedony seams.
Teepee Canyon Agate
Origin: Mined exclusively in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA—specifically from the rugged Tepee Canyon area located west of Custer along Highway 16.
Description: Teepee Canyon Agate is one of the most famous and vibrant nodular agates in North America, world-renowned among collectors for its razor-sharp fortification banding, brilliant warm colors, and rough limestone exterior matrix.
Tennessee Paint Rock Agate
Origin: Mined along the rugged Cumberland Plateau region in southern Tennessee (particularly Franklin, Lincoln, and Marion counties) and extending south into the famous Paint Rock Valley of northern Alabama.
Description: One of the most celebrated and highly sought-after collectible stones in the American Southeast, famous for its rich, “hand-painted” swirls of vivid warm colors suspended in translucent chalcedony.
Teton Jade
Origin: Found in and around the Teton Range, Gros Ventre Mountains, and Jackson Hole region of northwestern Wyoming.
Description: Rather than being nephrite or jadeite, Teton Jade is a high-grade, translucent variety of serpentine (often lizardite or antigorite) sourced from the Teton region of Wyoming. Because of its rich apple-to-olive green color and waxy sheen, local rockhounds and lapidaries nicknamed it “Teton Jade” or “False Jade”.
Thunderegg (Baker Claim)
Origin: Mined about 28 to 35 miles southwest of Deming, Luna County, New Mexico, USA.
Description: Thundereggs from the Baker Claim (also known as Baker Ranch Agate or Baker Egg Mine) are widely considered by rockhounds and collectors to be among the most vibrant and diverse thundereggs in the world.
Thunderegg (Bluemoon)
Origin: Mined from a private ranch site near Ashwood, Jefferson County, Central Oregon.
Description: Blue Moon Thundereggs (from the legendary Blue Moon Bed) are among the most sought-after and collectible thunderegg varieties in the Pacific Northwest. Known for their delicate translucent cores and colorful mossy interiors, they are considered rare “old-stock” classics by rockhounds.
Thunderegg (Luckystrike)
Origin: Mined high in the Ochoco Mountains (elevation ~5,500 ft) about 39 miles northeast of Prineville, Oregon, USA.
Description: Lucky Strike Thundereggs (from the famous Lucky Strike Mine) are widely considered to produce some of the most colorful and structurally diverse thundereggs in the entire Pacific Northwest.
Thunderegg (Richardson Ranch)
Origin: Mined at Richardson’s Rock Ranch, located north of Madras, Oregon.
Description: Richardson Ranch Thundereggs are sourced from the world-famous Priday Agate Beds and widely considered the gold standard of Oregon thundereggs.
Thunderegg Utah
Origin: Dugway Beds (Juab County, Western Utah). Hanksville & San Rafael Swell (Emery & Wayne Counties).
Description: Utah Thundereggs (and their closely related cousins, the famous Dugway Geodes) represent some of the most popular rockhounding material in the American West. Utah thundereggs stand out because many specimens exist as a rare hybrid—combining a solid, star-shaped agate thunderegg exterior with a hollow, crystal-lined geode interior.
Tiger Skin Jasper
Origin: Western Australia: Renowned for banded jaspilites and tiger-patterned quartz rocks from ancient Precambrian formations. China & India: Major sources for fine-grained tiger-skin jaspers with intricate, swirling patterns.
Description: An opaque, heavily patterned variety of microcrystalline quartz prized for its bold, rhythmic bands, swirls, and mottled stripes that evoke the coat of a wild tiger.
Tigereye-Blue
Origin: South Africa: The Northern Cape province is the world’s most famous commercial source for high-grade Hawk’s Eye and mixed golden/blue banded material.
Description: Blue Tiger’s Eye (widely known in mineralogy and lapidary work as Hawk’s Eye or Falcon’s Eye) is a striking, dark blue-gray, chatoyant variety of quartz celebrated for its silky, light-reflecting sheen and deep midnight-blue shades.
Tigereye Gold
Origin: South Africa: The Northern Cape province (particularly near Griqualand West and Kakamas) is the world’s primary source for thick, high-grade golden tiger’s eye seams.
Description: Golden Tiger’s Eye (or Gold Tiger’s Eye) is the classic, world-famous amber-gold variety of chatoyant quartz, renowned for its silky, shimmering “cat’s-eye” light streak that shifts dynamically across the stone as it catches the light.
Tigereye Red
Origin: South Africa: Northern Cape province (Griqualand West).
Description: Red Tiger’s Eye (also known in the gem trade as Bull’s Eye or Ox Eye) is a striking, rich mahogany-to-crimson variety of chatoyant quartz. It is famous for its warm, fiery reddish glow and silky cat’s-eye light reflection.
Turritella Agate
Origin: Mined almost exclusively in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, USA (specifically within the Green River Formation south of Rock Springs).
Description: Turritella Agate is one of the world’s most instantly recognizable fossiliferous gemstones. It features thousands of distinct, cream-to-white fossilized spiral snail shells suspended inside a dense, dark chocolate-brown or charcoal-black chalcedony matrix.
Tree Agate
Origin: India: The premier commercial source for high-contrast white and dark-green material. Brazil & Uruguay: Major producers yielding extensive seam deposits.
Description: Tree Agate is a striking variety of microcrystalline quartz famous for its opaque, porcelain-white background marked by rich, branching forest-green inclusions that look like miniature trees, ferns, or leafy foliage.
Trent Agate
Origin: 1960s Railroad Discovery: Discovered in the 1960s during a railroad cut near the town of Trent, Oregon (east of Eugene). Collector Status: Because the locality is physically buried under asphalt, genuine Trent Agate is strictly extinct in the wild and obtainable only through vintage estate collections.
Description: Trent Agate (frequently called Trent Stibnite Agate) is an extraordinarily rare, legendary old-stock material from Oregon. It holds a unique title in mineralogy as the only known agate on Earth to feature sagenitic sprays of both stibnite and realgar.
Turquoise
Origin: Nishapur (Iran / Persia). Sleeping Beauty (Arizona, USA). Bisbee (Arizona, USA). Royston & Carico Lake (Nevada, USA). Hubei Province (China).
Description: Turquoise is one of the world’s oldest and most iconic gemstones—a copper-aluminum phosphate mineral prized across millennia for its vivid shades of sky blue, teal, and apple green, often laced with intricate host-rock matrix webs.
Turtle Chert
Origin: Finger Lakes Region, New York. Arkansas River Valley & Midwest US. Great Lakes Region.
Description: Turtle Chert (often called Turtle Shell Chert, Turtleback Chert, or Turtle Stone) is a fascinating lapidary and geological term applied to chert nodules that display a prominent, polygonal pattern of raised ridges or cracks that closely resemble the segmented plates (scutes) of a turtle’s shell.
Unakite
Origin: Named after the Unaka Range of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, where it was first described in the late 19th century.
Description: Unakite (technically an epidotized granite) is one of the most distinctive and easily recognized metamorphic rocks in North America. It is famous for its unique “moss-and-coral” color combination: mottled pistachio-green epidote, salmon-pink orthoclase feldspar, and translucent gray quartz.
Vaquilla Agate
Origin: Mined near Ejido La Vaquilla in north-central Chihuahua, Mexico.
Description: Vaquilla Agate (often called Laguna Vaquilla Agate or La Vaquilla Agate) is one of the premier “old-stock” Mexican fortification agates. Originating from the world-renowned agate fields of Chihuahua, Mexico, it is highly prized by collectors for its hyper-sharp banding, vivid colors, and remarkable optical depth.
Variegated Tigereye
Origin: Northern Cape Province, South Africa (Prieska Region): The world’s most famous commercial source for variegated tiger’s eye. Seams here yield clean, high-contrast intergrowths with sharp boundaries between blue and yellow bands.
Description: Variegated Tiger’s Eye (frequently called Zebra Tiger’s Eye or Multi-Colored Tiger’s Eye) is a striking, naturally occurring variety where blue, golden, and sometimes red chatoyant bands coexist within the same stone.
Variscite
Origin: Fairfield / Clay Canyon (Utah, USA). Lucin (Utah, USA). Candelaria & Lander County (Nevada, USA). Western Australia.
Description: Variscite is one of the most striking and valuable rare green gemstones in North America. Often mistaken for fine green turquoise, variscite is prized for its vivid mint-to-emerald green shades, translucent depth, and intricate spiderweb matrix.
Verde Antique
Origin: Vermont, USA (Roxbury & Rochester). Greece (Thessaly / Larissa). Italy (Valle d’Aosta & Prato). Ireland (Connemara).
Description: Verde Antique is a luxurious, deep forest-green rock laced with a striking network of white, cream, and silver veins.
Woodward Ranch Agate
Origin: Discovered on the legendary Woodward Ranch, located roughly 16 miles south of Alpine, Texas in Brewster County.
Description: Woodward Ranch Agate is one of the most famous and coveted “old-stock” Texas gemstones. Originating from West Texas, it is world-renowned among collectors and lapidaries for its exquisite plume and bouquet inclusions suspended in water-clear to soft pastel chalcedony.
Youngite
Origin: Youngite is found in only one specific region on Earth—the natural limestone caves and veins of the Guernsey Formation near Guernsey, Platte County, Wyoming.
Description: Youngite (sometimes called Fluorescent Cave Agate or Cotton Candy Agate) is one of the most famous, distinct, and highly sought-after rare agates in North America.
Zebra Agate
Origin: India, Russia, Brazil, Madagascar, and Mexico,
Description: Zebra Agate (often traded under names like Zebra Jasper, Zebra Stone, or Zebra Marble) is a striking gemstone named for its bold, alternating striped or marbled patterns.
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