Fixed
Body colour and pattern
Black body colour, Snowflake domains and Mahogany flow textures stay in place while surface glare moves.
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Stone Explorer Obsidian comparison tool
Compare obsidian, side by side.
Compare seven natural appearances at full size, then follow how volcanic glass forms and later changes.
In our shop: all gold sheen obsidian pieces →
File 019 · Seven natural appearance records
Two ways in · pick one
Each specimen opens its own file.
How to read the wall
Read how each obsidian variety forms, and how to screen a claim, in the full obsidian guide.
One glass. Different geological readings.
A photograph can describe appearance. It cannot establish origin, treatment, or whether a particular object is natural volcanic glass.
Directional
Sheen and iridescence
Gold, Silver and Rainbow effects strengthen, shift or disappear as light, surface and viewer move into alignment.
Later
Change after quenching
Devitrification can develop Snowflake texture. Hydration can form perlite around preserved obsidian remnants.
Sources and image credits
Follow the process, keep the specimen in view.
General sources explain volcanic glass and later alteration. Sample studies explain particular textures or optical effects; their mechanisms do not automatically transfer to every stone with a similar name. For the wider material foundation, read the Obsidian Complete Guide.
USGS · Volcanic glass and rapid coolingFormation · alteration
- Use
- Silica-rich volcanic melt, rapid chilling, hydration and crystallisation.
- Read
- Yellowstone’s tool-making lava flows · Volcanic glasses: origins and alteration
Smithsonian · Snowflake Obsidian 45995Catalogued specimen · devitrification
- Use
- A catalogued example with pale radial cristobalite domains in obsidian.
- Limit
- The identification belongs to the catalogued specimen; a similar pattern elsewhere remains a visual comparison until tested.
GIA and sample studies · Sheen and iridescenceDirectional optics · sample scope
- Use
- Directional optical effects and the multiple internal structures documented in named samples.
- Read
- GIA · Phenomenal gemstone nanotextures
- Note
- Fire obsidian is a local Glass Buttes optical label; its measured thin-film mechanism is deposit-specific. It is not part of this seven-appearance comparison.
Seven specimen photographsReference appearance · image credits
- CC0
- Black · Twyla Baker / GeoDIL; Snowflake · Mike Davis / GeoDIL; Apache Tear in Matrix · Pella2.
- CC BY 2.0
- Mahogany, Gold Sheen, Silver Sheen and Rainbow · James St. John. Cropped and/or resized; no colour alteration.
- Limit
- Each photograph records one specimen under one set of conditions.
Questions about Stone Explorer
Which obsidian appearances can I compare?
Black, Snowflake, Mahogany, Gold Sheen, Silver Sheen, Rainbow and Apache Tears.
How do sheen and iridescence change with light?
Gold, Silver and Rainbow effects strengthen, shift or disappear as light, surface and viewer move into alignment.
What can happen to obsidian after quenching?
Devitrification can develop Snowflake texture. Hydration can form perlite around preserved obsidian remnants.