Even If You Don’t Like Diamonds And Gemstones, These Will Leave You Speechless

When you think of beautiful gems, your mind may automatically drift to a diamond, ruby or emerald. One gemstone, however, that doesn’t nearly get the attention it deserves is the opal. An opal is one of the most beautiful of gemstones, found in limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl and basalt. These stones can be almost any color, and opals of different colors can flash different colors in different lights. They’re truly amazing. You can find precious opals that are clear through white, gray, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, magenta, rose, pink, slate, olive, brown, and black.

This is an Ethiopian Welo Opal.

It was just discovered in 2008.

Inside of these opals seem to be a little world…

You could lose yourself staring into one of these beauties.

The Ethiopian opal is slightly different from the Australian opal.

Opals are the national gemstone of Australia.

Amazing.

This is another kind of opal, called the Fire Opal. It’s found in Mexico and inside seems to be filled with flames or a sunset.

The Lightning Ridge Black Opal is from Australia. Black opals are rare and very sought after. Judging by how these look, I can see why.

Opals seem otherworldly. They come in so many colors and can change their appearance right in front of you. Forget diamonds, engagement rings should have opals in them. Amazing.

Source: Tumblr via Amusing Planet

I wonder how many people got opals this Valentine’s Day… did you?