Gemstones are a true force of nature, with magnificent back stories on where their beauty comes from.

Opals lack crystal structure, therefore they are considered mineraloids, not minerals; this, in turn, gives them characteristics that make them uniquely mystical. It wasn’t until the 1960s, that scientists first managed to discover what is the reason that every opal seems to embody a little world of its own: the reason behind this is the opal’s composition, namely tiny spheres composed of silicon and oxygen calledsilica. An electron microscope shows that opals are made of millions of silica positioned in an orderly pattern which diffracts the light entering from an outside source and gives the opal its unique design.

Below we have 10 gorgeous pictures that give us a glimpse into the sheer beauty of these rocks.

We are sure there’s a superhero somewhere getting his strength from a chunk of bismuth. This mineral is very rare and usually laboratory-grown. It derives its name from the chemical element Bismuth and it’s one of the most widely collected minerals by enthusiasts. They usually have a metal like surface and color, and only rare specimen have the luscious coloring pictured below.

Geodes are a derivate of sedimentary and volcanic rocks. They are hollow, spheric masses of mineral matter usually found in limestone or basaltic caves. Online they retail very well as parts of jewelry.

The azurite is a soft, copper mineral produced from copper ore deposits and is always a deep shade of blue. A particular variety is called chessylite after one of its most famous sources in Chessy, near Lyon, France. It is a mineral widely known since antiquity and it has been mentioned in one of the oldest Latin encyclopedias: Naturalis Historia by the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder.

Tourmaline is a semi-precious stone whose colors (and price!) can vary greatly. Its name is derived from the Sinhalese word turmali, as it was first brought to Europe from Sri Lanka by Dutch colonists.