question on diamond loupes

[sean13]

Hello all,

I was considering purchasing a loupe to accompany my soon to be complete e-ring. I became interested in one because of my new found fascination with diamonds (thanks in part to this site) and to provide me with some peace of mind. Naturally though I had a couple of questions!!!

1) Is there anything in particular to look for when purchasing a loupe, or are they pretty much all the same? Is there anything to avoid? I was figuring I could just order through Dave Atlas.

2) Since I tend to move around quite a bit it makes it difficult to find a jeweler I feel comfortable with. As such I thought I could use the loupe to get to know my diamonds fingerprint (inclusions and such) and always know I am getting the same thing back if I bring it in for cleaning or repair (I know it is the rare jeweler who would do this but I can''t help but worry with something so meaningful). As a normal comsumer is it plausible that I could use the loupe well enough to identify my own diamond or would I just be wasting my money? At this point the stone would be set so I was wodering if you really need to be trained in order to be effective with it.

Thanks all for your help!

Sean

 

[DiamondExpert]

Make sure it is a 10x triplet lens and 20.5mm diam. corrected for spherical and color abberations.

It is not easy to use a loupe effectively under everyday lighting conditions to view diamond inclusions. This is best done with a gem microscope or darkfield loupe where you have darkfield lighting, which are more expensive.

Your local jeweler should be prepared to show you your diamond in their gem 'scope.

Good luck!

 

[cflutist]

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On 10/22/2004 9:27:29 PM DiamondExpert wrote:

Make sure it is a 10x triplet lens and 20.5mm diam. corrected for spherical and color abberations.
Good luck!----------------

Otto-Frei has them for $22.50 - 24.95

GIA Gem Instruments has them for $69.00

 

[denverappraiser]

Sean,

You can actually see quite a bit through a cheap loupe. Personally I"m not very fond of those $25 ones from Frei and the $70 unit from GIA is hard to take the price. For my dealer customers I recommend the B&L unit that Frei is selling for $35. For consumers, I usually recommend the cheapest triplet you can get. I have one that I sell to customers for $10 and many others have similar offers.

What is lost by a cheap loupe is that the edges of the image out near the metal rim can get distorted and the color can be a little off. This makes them unsuitable for grading stones but they are entirely suitable for what customers want to do. They're actually pretty handy things to have around.

Triplet is a feature that reduces the distortion and is very helpful. Make sure to get glass lenses, they last longer.

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[fuffi]

I highly recommend the Belomo loupe. It's an excellent one for the price. They're available through a few sites including ebay. GIA doesn't manufacture their products-- they buy them from different sources, slap their logo on it and mark it up. I'm not saying they're not quality products, just that you can buy comparable for less elsewhere.

 

[oldminer]

On my website I offer two loupes. One is a rather ordinary jewelers 10X loupe for $15, but it is corrected for spherical and achromatic aberration. While not costly, it is totally adequate for daily use by a gemologist. It is an 18mm size. I use a similar loupe most of the time.

I also sell the plastic framed loupe supplied to me by Garry Holloway. While more costly, it is undeniably a far better product. At $35 it is as good a loupe as the $300 German products in the market. It is a 20.5mm size and has all the features of the very best loupes. Everyone that has tried it, finds it a superior product and very easy on the eyes.

There are may altneratives offered and many of them are just as good as both of the above. There is no way to prove one is better than the other and every seller claims their's is best or superior. We offer loupes as a service since we get a lot of visitors to the website, but it is not a profit center of importance.

What I would avoid is wasting your money on the low end garbage loupes out there for $2 to $10. They simply are not good for anyone. Inexperienced eyes see better with the best optics. Experienced eyes can make do with a little less perfect lens although for a full day's work, the best optics are more comfortable. You can use a loupe for checking the security and tightness of stones in your jewelry. You can also use it for other fine work, such as finding a small splinter in a finger. or checking a photo proof. Buying a decent loupe is the same as buying good tools. Good tools last a lifetime and don't break when you need to rely on them. I still have Craftsman auto tools I bought when I was 16-18 years old and they are still like new and have been used a whole lot. Hard to imagine they have come 40 years with me......That's another long story.

 

[noobie]

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On 10/23/2004 1:11:08 PM oldminer wrote:


What I would avoid is wasting your money on the low end garbage loupes out there for $2 to $10. They simply are not good for anyone. ----------------

I would second this. I bought one on ebay for $3. I got what I paid for.

 

[denverappraiser]

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On 10/23/2004 3:27:47 PM noobie wrote:

----------------
On 10/23/2004 1:11:08 PM oldminer wrote:


What I would avoid is wasting your money on the low end garbage loupes out there for $2 to $10. They simply are not good for anyone. ----------------

I would second this. I bought one on ebay for $3. I got what I paid for.----------------

Noobie,

The $3 variety are useless but I would disagree about what you can get for $10-$15. I think my cheap one is actually the very same loupe that David has and it's pretty decent. I normally use a Zeiss that was given to me by a former boss that I've grown sort of attached to it but I don't think I would choose this one if I had to do it all over again because they want so much money for them. That $35 one that Dave's selling looks really nice.

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver