ThoughtCo: Examples of Different Mineral Lusters

Luster, also spelled lustre, is a simple word for a complex thing: the way light interacts with the surface of a mineral. This gallery shows the major types of luster, which range from metallic to dull.

I might call luster the combination of reflectance (shininess) and transparency. According to those parameters, here is how the common lusters would come out, allowing some variation:

Metallic: very high reflectance, opaque
Submetallic: medium reflectance, opaque
Adamantine: very high reflectance, transparent
Glassy: high reflectance, transparent or translucent
Resinous: medium reflectance, translucent
Waxy: medium reflectance, translucent or opaque
Pearly: low reflectance, translucent or opaque
Dull: no reflectance, opaque

Other common descriptors include greasy, silky, vitreous and earthy.

There are no set boundaries between each of these lusters, and different sources may classify luster in different ways. Additionally, a single category of mineral may have specimens within it with different lusters. Luster is qualitative rather than quantitative.

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Metallic Luster in Galena

Galena has the real metallic luster, with every fresh face like a mirror.

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Metallic Luster in Gold

Gold has a metallic luster, shiny on a clean face and dull on a worn face like this nugget.

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Metallic Luster in Magnetite

Magnetite has a metallic luster, shiny on a clean face and dull on a weathered face.

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Metallic Luster in Chalcopyrite

Chalcopyrite has a metallic luster although it is a metal sulfide rather than a metal.

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Metallic Luster in Pyrite

Pyrite has a metallic or submetallic luster although it is an iron sulfide rather than a metal.

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Submetallic Luster in Hematite

Hematite has a submetallic luster in this specimen, although it can also be dull.

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Adamantine Luster in Diamond

Diamond shows the definitive adamantine luster (extremely shiny, even fiery), but only on a clean crystal face or fracture surface. This specimen has a luster better described as greasy.

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Adamantine Luster in Ruby

Ruby and other varieties of corundum can display an adamantine luster owing to its high index of refraction.

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Adamantine Luster in Zircon

Zircon has an adamantine luster owing to its high index of refraction, which is second only to diamond.

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Adamantine Luster in Andradite Garnet

Andradite can display adamantine luster in high-quality specimens, which led to its traditional name of demantoid (diamondlike) garnet.

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Adamantine Luster in Cinnabar

Cinnabar displays a range of lusters from waxy to submetallic, but in this specimen it is closest to adamantine.

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Glassy or Vitreous Luster in Quartz

Quartz sets the standard for glassy (vitreous) luster, especially in clear crystals like these.

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Glassy or Vitreous Luster in Olivine

Peridot mineral stone.Tom Cockrem / Getty Images

Olivine has a glassy (vitreous) luster that is typical of silicate minerals.

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Glassy or Vitreous Luster in Topaz

Topaz displays a glassy (vitreous) luster in these well-formed crystals.

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Glassy or Vitreous Luster in Selenite

Selenite crystal — Selenite, satin spar, desert rose, and gypsum flower are four varieties of the mineral gypsum.Nastasic / Getty Images

Selenite or clear gypsum has a glassy (vitreous) luster, though not as well developed as other minerals. Its sheen, likened to moonlight, accounts for its name.

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