Two jobs sit next to each other on this hub, and they want different tools. Identification happens at the table: habit, hardness, then the species page. Display happens after you already have a piece you mean to keep: a point on a shelf, a cluster that should not knock, a labeled box. This page splits those jobs.
The identify a mineral guide is the checklist. The tools is the category search. Jewelry, collecting, and display are uses. Personal meaning is not a mineral fact.
When the ID kit belongs
Reach for a jeweler loupe and a Mohs hardness kit when the specimen is still unnamed, or when a shop label is doing too much work.
- Habit, close up. The Handbook of Mineralogy quartz PDF describes hexagonal prismatic crystals terminated by pyramidal faces. The fluorite PDF and Webmineral list the cube form on an isometric species. A loupe is how you confirm faces, striations, and whether a “point” is actually a cube corner. 10× is the usual jeweler magnification; this hub does not certify a brand or a diopter.
- Hardness, on purpose. Webmineral lists quartz hardness as 7 and fluorite hardness as 4. The quartz species PDF records hardness 7. That three-step gap is the most useful check on this hub: quartz scratches fluorite; fluorite does not scratch quartz. A Mohs kit (picks or reference minerals) is how you run that check without guessing from color.
- Color last. GIA states that yellow quartz is rare in nature and that most citrine is heated amethyst. A golden cluster at hardness 7 is still SiO2. The loupe and the Mohs result come before the trade name.
- Glass is a different file. USGS describes obsidian as volcanic glass that cooled too fast to crystallize, with conchoidal fracture. A Mohs species number is the wrong first move. The loupe (curved break, no prism, no cube) plus the volcano page is the ID.
Worked order stays: habit, hardness, color last, then the species PDF. See How to identify a mineral specimen.
When the display stand belongs
Reach for a mineral display stand and specimen boxes when the job is keeping a piece, not naming it.
- Soft stones stay on the shelf. Fluorite is Mohs 4 (Webmineral; Handbook of Mineralogy fluorite PDF). The identify guide already files it as a display mineral more than a pocket stone. A stand holds a cube or octahedron so it is not rattling in a drawer with quartz points.
- Clusters and points. People collect quartz points and display clusters. That is a use. A stand is furniture for a specimen you already own.
- Storage vs knocking. Labeled specimen boxes (cotton-lined cases, compartment trays) keep pieces from chipping each other in transit or in a drawer. That is collector practice, not a USGS finding, and not “in stock” here.
- Already named, or not naming today. If the species page is already open, or you are not doing ID this sitting, display gear is the right list. Do not buy a Mohs kit to decorate a shelf.
Collecting notes live on Collecting and display.
Side by side
| Identification kit | Display kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Job | Name the stone at the table | Keep a piece on a shelf or in a labeled box |
| Tools | Jeweler loupe + Mohs hardness kit | Mineral/crystal display stand + specimen boxes |
| When | Unknown specimen; quartz 7 vs fluorite 4; inclusions and faces before color | Soft fluorite; points and clusters; storage so pieces do not knock |
| Cited fact | Handbook / Webmineral hardness and habit; GIA on treated citrine; USGS glass for obsidian | Fluorite Mohs 4, display more than pocket (species pages) |
| 10× is the usual loupe; a kit of picks is enough for this hub’s two-mineral split | Acrylic or metal stands and cotton-lined boxes reduce chipping vs a loose drawer | |
| Skip | A price, a product page, or shop inventory | Specimen stock or “in stock” |
Worked split: purple cube vs purple points. Purple is not a species. A six-sided purple prism at hardness 7 is amethyst, quartz (Webmineral variety list; Handbook quartz PDF). A purple cube at hardness 4 with {111} cleavage is fluorite. That split is an ID-kit job: loupe for habit, Mohs for the 7 vs 4 gap. Once the cube is named fluorite, it is a display-kit job: Mohs 4, keep it on a stand, not in a pocket with quartz.
Worked split: a named quartz point you mean to show. Species is already quartz. You are not running hardness today. A display stand holds the prism; a specimen box is for the pieces that are not on the shelf. The loupe can still come out later for inclusions, it is not required to put the stone on the shelf.
Kits to try
Two shopping clusters.Full kit notes: Identification kit and Display kit.
Identification kit
Loupe + Mohs kit. Table work: habit and hardness before color.
- Jeweler loupe, faces, inclusions, facet junctions
- Mohs hardness kit, quartz 7 vs fluorite 4
Display kit
Stand + specimen boxes. Shelf and storage for pieces you already own.
- Mineral/crystal display stand, a point or cluster on a shelf
- Specimen boxes, labeled storage
Open the kinds catalog for the mineral cards. Open tools for loupe, Mohs, stand, and specimen boxes.
Sources
- Handbook of Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America. Quartz (SiO2) species PDF (hexagonal prismatic crystals, hardness 7): https://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/quartz.pdf
- Handbook of Mineralogy. Fluorite (CaF2) species PDF: https://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/fluorite.pdf
- Webmineral. Quartz mineral data (hardness 7, varieties): https://webmineral.com/data/Quartz.shtml
- Webmineral. Fluorite mineral data (hardness 4, isometric, cube form, {111} cleavage): https://webmineral.com/data/Fluorite.shtml
- U.S. Geological Survey, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Rock, glass, and flowbands (obsidian as volcanic glass): https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo/news/rock-glass-and-flowbands-yellowstones-rhyolite-anatomy
- Gemological Institute of America. “Is citrine treated?” (most citrine is heated amethyst): https://www.gia.edu/gia-faq-treated-citrine
Updated 2026-08-31.