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I've had occasion to be fascinated by bismuth several times in my life so far. The first time was my discovery of its use in low melting point alloys as a lead free pewter alternative. Later I ran across its magnetic properties, as far as I know its the only naturally occurring material you can float a magnet on.
But here we will be exploring Hopper crystals.
This photo is courtesy of Wikimedia and has been retouched a little, for focus.
The basic process is to melt some bismuth and either dip in a seed crystal or pour out the excess after after it has partially set. These crystals form during the cooling process, and get exposed by interrupting the freezing. Its a little like making a freezer pop, just at much higher temperatures.
A simple search on youtube for "bismuth crystal" brings up have a dozen videos that involve nothing that's truly higher tech than fire and metal. Melt, wait, pour... *oh pretty*.
The iridescent colors are caused by oxidation layers. Bismuth actually oxidizes to a pink color, its the pink in Pepto, the iridescent colors are caused by depth changes in the oxidation layer. Like the rainbows that oil makes on water.
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