B&L 10x Sight Savers Loupe & High Intensity Light

[rparker1998]

Hello Dear PS''ers.

SO I was finally taking the plunge and ordering a loupe of my very own. I ordered what I thought was a 10x Bausch & Lomb loupe. Now I know that the "standard" is 10x for general viewing of diamonds & colored stones alike. So I thought I would be thrifty and order a B&L as my first and then maybe if that one worked out well, I''d order a Belomo shorftly there after. Well I recieved my loupe, and went to use it on my diamond that is a VS2, with two inclusions of known origin via a gemscope at 10x but can''t seem to "see" things as largely as I thought I would. So to make a long story short, my question is this. Is this a standard SIZE loupe? It seems so small and like it''s not magnifing quite right. I expected the image I was viewing to be larger I guess. And total NOOB question, but I wanted to make sure I was looking through the correct side, the one with the 10x on the case facing me. Here is the link to what I bought. The box states 10x Hastings Triplet Magnifer. Should I return it and get a better loupe for the same or less money and if so which would you suggest?

http://kassoy.com/ec/1/product.asp?idDept=333&idProduct=3710


I Also picked up a High Intensity Light for what I thought woud simulate a diamonds light return like you would see say outside or under jewlery store lighting (lots of fire and scintilation)...but maybe it was just tired eyes but on my dimaond that sparkles like fireball outside, I didn''t see what I would have expected. Maybe it was because my rings were "dirty''? Yet they sure did sprakle pretty well outside today in the sun..... Am I just expecting too much and using this "tool" improperly?

http://kassoy.com/ec/1/product.asp?idProduct=2685&idDept=314

After reading the description again, I think I was seeing what I was supposed to, but didn''t quite know what I was looking at....My diamond (center stone) has 2 small inclusions - 1 crystal and 1 small piece of carbon if memory serves, so HOw would these be "reflected" with the light?

THanks for the information and suggestions - Maybe this is all just that whole learning how to use the tool properly issues but I appreciate the time/energy ya''all put in each day on the forum helping those of us who are going down this road and your patience is also appreciated.

rparker1998.

 

[whatmeworry]

That''s a fine loupe. You just need keep practicing and use the right lighting. VS2 is going to be hard to find. I don''t think that flashlight is going to be very helpful. What you want is darkfield illumination. You basically want the light to enter the side of the diamond. You can get this by using a desk lamp and holding the diamond at the border between the cone of light from the lamp and the shadow. Also tilt the diamond back and forth when you are looking for the inclusions because some of them appear and disappear with tilt.

 

[oldminer]

A "Hastings" type of loupe is not a good choice for a diamond loupe. These types are more commonly used with colored stones, but not by diamond guys. I have used a very ordinary B & L loupe 10x for many years although the very costly newest ones are a bit easier on the eyes with extended use during a long working day. Get a B&L loupe 10x which is aspherical and aplanatic. I don''t believe the Hastings meets this spec. Many less costly loupes are 18mm diamoeter lens. You can find some which may seem better to your eyes with 20+mm diameters. I use a 20mm size for everyday myself.

 

[jet2ks]

Here is a fairly recent thread that may help

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/most-recommended-10x-jeweller-loupe-carl-zeiss.123415/