I bought a loupe!

[marygrace]

My wedding band came last week. It is a WF 3/4 eternity with 1 pointers. It is so sparkly and pretty. I love it. I just want to see my little diamonds close up. No matter how much I squint, all I see are flashes of light. I want to see the tiny hearts and arrows.

I've seen my e-ring magnified. Although the prongs are perfect to the naked eye, I have really scuffed them up! I am fine with that. But I love looking at the diamond.

My fiancé says I spend at least an hour a day admiring my diamond. I might as well take it to the next level and get a loupe. Now that I have my wedding band, I will have endless amounts of entertainment.

PS I am getting married May 6. I am not supposed to touch my wedding band until then, but I sneak it out of his drawer when he is out.

 

[TxnBluDvl]

I have the Nikon 10x one. It's a nice piece for the price...

 

[ame]

Ohhhh welcome to the crazy club! It is sure fun to examine isn't it! I sometimes would sit in my car on a sunny day, and look at the stone with the loupe. It's just cool to see the facets.

 

[kenny]

I'm confused.
The title says, "I bought a loupe!", but your post sounds like you are shopping for one.

10x loupes are priced from $3 ...

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=jeweler's+loupe&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=1849139195928330756&sa=X&ei=cjqDT5C_C-WQiALr-KmEAw&ved=0CHoQ8wIwAg#ps-sellers

... to several hundred bucks . . .

http://www.kassoy.com/authentic-schneider-loupe.html
http://www.kassoy.com/schneider-gemology_pro-loupe.html
http://www.kassoy.com/swiss-axe-hawk-10x-21mm-loupe.html

You will hear from people here delighted with their $3 loupes and posters insisting nothing less than a real Harald Schneider will do.

You have a huge price range to select from.
A Nikon or Ziess may be a fine value at around $90.

http://www.nationaljewelerssupplies.com/p/Zeiss.html

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Triplet-Loupe-13mm-10X/dp/B001G71H4Y

Keep in mind a 20x gives you more magnification but not necessarily better sharpness/resolution/detail.
A $500 10x will reveal more detail than a 20x or even a 30x that you paid $5 for.

If your price range is around $40 I've heard good things about the BeloMo loupe.
http://www.belomo.us/

 

[SB621]

Kenny...personally i would rather spend my $$ on jewelery vs. a loupe but to each his or her own.

I just bought a loupe too late last week. It is a cheap-o $4 one from Amazon (love my prime membership) and so far I'm super happy with it.

 

[kenny]

Kenny...personally i would rather spend my $$ on jewelery vs. a loupe but to each his or her own.

I just bought a loupe too late last week. It is a cheap-o $4 one from Amazon (love my prime membership) and so far I'm super happy with it.

You are perfect.
So is the person who values her $500 loupe.

Loupe's vary.
People vary.
Isn't diversity wonderful?

When someone comes here asking about loupes I think introducing them to the full range of what's available is a good thing.
She is free to research the products and pick the price range she's comfortable with.
I didn't mention which loupe I picked.
Why should I try to get her to be like me?

Like you and many others, she may also be delighted with a $3 loupe.
Though if you were handed a Nikon to use for a month you may no longer be delighted with yours.
You may suddenly discover for yourself that you are willing to pay for a higher level of performance, which you previously never experienced. (You didn't know what you were missing.)

Then again she may be the type who has a passion, and the disposable income, for the finest optics money can buy even if she's not a pro who will use it 8 hours a day.
IOW the mentality that "nobody needs an expensive loupe unless they work selecting diamonds for Tiffany" is not really respectful of diversity.
Nobody "needs" a Lexus either but they sell a lot of them.

 

[kenny]

Can anyone tell I have a guilty conscience because I bought an expensive loupe?

 

[marygrace]

I bought a 10x, 20x, and 30x loupe from Amazon or a grand total of $6.31.

My fear is that I will buy more diamonds to look at. My fiancé already thinks I am nuts looking at cushion cuts on GOG, JA, and ERD. I am perfectly happy with my wedding set, but I love the sparkly.

I looked at CZs, hoping I can satisfy my craving cheaply. They truly look fake next to diamonds. So I want diamonds! Uniquely cut diamonds like Star129, Lucida, AVC, Octavia...

But it will be a few years as we need to sell a house, buy a house, buy 2 cars, and just sort out the financial stuff from getting married. Oh, and we plan to start trying this summer. I have plenty of time to obsess and decide.

 

[lapelirroja]

Anyone else have the H&A viewer that WF includes with their diamonds. When you look at it head on it shows the lovely blue/white arrows shot.... but... when you tilt it even just slightly it magnifies like crazy, I imagine just like a loupe. Anyone have any idea of the magnification power of the viewer?

 

[ame]

I bought a 10x, 20x, and 30x loupe from Amazon or a grand total of $6.31.

My fear is that I will buy more diamonds to look at. My fiancé already thinks I am nuts looking at cushion cuts on GOG, JA, and ERD. I am perfectly happy with my wedding set, but I love the sparkly.

I looked at CZs, hoping I can satisfy my craving cheaply. They truly look fake next to diamonds. So I want diamonds! Uniquely cut diamonds like Star129, Lucida, AVC, Octavia...

But it will be a few years as we need to sell a house, buy a house, buy 2 cars, and just sort out the financial stuff from getting married. Oh, and we plan to start trying this summer. I have plenty of time to obsess and decide.

The star129 is worth owning. I might be biased.

 

[kenny]

So I want diamonds! Uniquely cut diamonds like Star129, Lucida, AVC, Octavia...

Octavia!!!

I'm absolutely biased.
We LOVE our Octavia ... and I shamelessly plug the cut every chance I get.
Pics start on page 3 [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pop-the-cork-i-just-bought-the-first-ocatvia.132337/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pop-the-cork-i-just-bought-the-first-ocatvia.132337/[/URL]

It has astonishing light performance, especially for a step cut diamond.

 

[Enerchi]

So I want diamonds! Uniquely cut diamonds like Star129, Lucida, AVC, Octavia...

Octavia!!!
I'm absolutely biased.
We LOVE our Octavia ... and I shamelessly plug the cut every chance I get.
Pics start on page 3 [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pop-the-cork-i-just-bought-the-first-ocatvia.132337/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pop-the-cork-i-just-bought-the-first-ocatvia.132337/[/URL]

It has astonishing light performance, especially for a step cut diamond.

Kenny!!! OMG!!!! jawdroppingdeliciousness.....

Yikes! that is amazing- I'm loving that thread! My eyes hurt from looking at it tho

 

[kenny]

Thanks Enerchi.
Threadjack apologies . . . it's just that when I see the word Octavia I go a little wacko.

I'm like that young guy in West Side Story who made a love song of the name, "Maria".

 

[Enerchi]

Thanks Enerchi.
Threadjack apologies . . . it's just that when I see the word Octavia I go a little wacko.

I'm like that young guy in West Side Story who made a love song of the name, "Maria".

YAH!!! for good reason - OMG!! That is TDF and then some!!! Kudos to you and your SO for owning the #1 Octavia - and how gorgeous it is. wow.... just "wow". Hats off to your diamond selecting abilities - I am humbled in your presence! ( )

Sorry Marygrace - now back to our regular scheduled program...
I use my Ollo clip for my iPhone like a loupe - its insane how much time you can spend looking INTO your stones!

 

[kenny]

OMG!! That is TDF and then some!!! Kudos to you and your SO for owning the #1 Octavia - and how gorgeous it is. wow.... just "wow". Hats off to your diamond selecting abilities - I am humbled in your presence! ( )

You may wash my car.
But be careful.

 

[Enerchi]

Can I?? really??? Oh kewl.... I'm on my way now... This will be such an honour

 

[kenny]

 

[TravelingGal]

Anyone else have the H&A viewer that WF includes with their diamonds. When you look at it head on it shows the lovely blue/white arrows shot.... but... when you tilt it even just slightly it magnifies like crazy, I imagine just like a loupe. Anyone have any idea of the magnification power of the viewer?

I have one from them from years ago. I don't tilt it...I just flip it around and use the other end for a loupe. I love that thing.

 

[Pandora II]

Late here, but really recommend the Belomo.

They're a good size, black cased and the optics are by Zeiss (The company is actually Zeiss-Belomo with Zeiss owning 60% of the company).

I now have 3 of them and having trialed them against many of the much more expensive brands I doubt I will never buy anything else. When I was studying gemmology, lots of my classmates tried out my loupes and most then went out and bought one.

For the price they are unbeatable.

ETA. Be very wary of buying cheap gemmological equipment especially the eBay cheapy Chinese refractometers as they are just not accurate.